Konton
by Conejo-sama
Summary: Sequel to "Hikikomori". Konton. Translation: Chaos. Definition: a state of utter confusion and disorder; total lack of organization or order. In other words, the end of OZ. Kazuma/OC
1. Prologue

**For those reading the first chapter of "Konton" and who haven't read "Hikikomori" I suggest you go back and read that! And also, I've put up links to images of my OCs Yuri and Usagi on my profile.**

**Now enjoy!**

* * *

_**Konton**_

_Translation: Chaos_

_Definition: a state of utter confusion or disorder; a total lack of organization or order_

_In order words, the end of OZ._

* * *

One by one, old and new members of the wonderfully diverse online world of OZ began to enter the arcades and casinos, the most active and communicative feature in OZ. A few new games were released during the summer and quickly became popular, but the game favored the most was _Konton_.

It was an online version of laser tag, only the main objective was to find the _itto_*, or the player who was in possession of the crystal key. Anyone tagged, whether they had the crystal key or not, was immediately sent back to the arcade. The only rule given was that there were no rules, except for the ones that the players determined for themselves, like whether the holder of the crystal key was known or not and how long the game lasted. However, depending on who made the rules and what the rules complied, the game could turn into either a fun fest or completely chaos. Of course, the game was never fun when things always went just as planned.

There was a certain game of _Konton_ happening between a group of high school boys from the United Kingdom. In their game, everyone was divided into teams. Their goal was to take the other team's crystal key. One of the players, an avatar that looked like a terrified dog with his tail between his legs, was hiding behind a wall, avoiding all players so he wouldn't get caught. His teammate, an avatar in the shape of a flame, suddenly appeared next to him and his hair stood on end.

"What the ****, man!" the dog exclaimed.

"Sorry," the flame apologized. "This was the closest hiding place."

The dog took a breath. "Well, how about warning next time! … Are you the _itto_?"

The flame looked at him in disbelief. "Charlie, have you been paying any attention to this game at all?"

"Are you kidding me? I've been hiding out this whole entire time! This game is as scary as ****, especially when other players can get you with a bazooka! Why'd you even make me play, Taylor?"

Taylor just shook his head. "I'm sad to call you my friend. I'm not _itto_ and you're not the _itto_, so just calm down. We're practically worthless if we don't have the key, so no one's going to waste their time trying to find us. I think Stephen's…" Taylor stopped. "Huh… I guess Stephen's not the _itto_ anymore. His icon's completely disappeared. Someone from the other team must've gotten to him."

"Who's the _itto_ then?"

"Why don't you check for yourself, Charlie?"

"If I lose my guard someone might get me!"

Taylor sighed. "You're unbelievable." When he checked the data board, he was very confused by what he found. "Uh… I don't know who's the _itto_."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I mean I don't know the _itto_ guy. It's some bloke by the name of LM2. He's not on anyone's team. And the weirdest thing is that the game should've ended three seconds ago, but the timer stopped. And he still has the key."

"What should we do?"

"Maybe we should try getting the key from him before the timer starts back up again."

"But this guy is the _itto_!"

"Which means he has the crystal key. It's like you've already forgotten how to play."

"I don't care! I don't want to play anymore!"

"Come on, Charlie. We could get this guy without him suspecting it, and if we do it together, there's no way he'll be able to escape."

Charlie was hesitant at first, but as long as he was working alongside his teammate, this task wouldn't be so hard. "Fine, let's just get this over with."

The two flew out to approach their target. Once they found LM2, they suddenly wanted to go back on their decision. Whoever this person was, they were huge. Their back was turned on the two tiny avatars and he wasn't moving, so they kept going. However, there was one thing they miscalculated. Once a character comes within a five meter radius, their presence is immediately known. So when player LM2 turned around, the two puny avatars cowered in fear.

"Is that…?" Charlie squeaked out.

"I-I think it is…" Taylor whimpered.

The _itto_ smiled maliciously at the two and raised the key above his head. The dog and the flame flew off, warning other players, whether they be on their team or not. However, they weren't able to make their hasty retreat. LM2 had got them. With a quiet smirk, LM2 stalked off to get his next prey.

* * *

"Hm…"

"What is it, Kenta?"

"Several accounts on OZ have been… terminated."

Kei, the obliviously observant Shiba Inu looked up to see what her master and his friendly assistant were talking about. They always had the most entertaining conversations even though she couldn't comprehend anything they were saying.

"Well, sir, it's not very unusual for some OZ members to cancel their accounts."

"No, I mean that their accounts are suddenly gone. All their information is gone. And usually when someone has canceled an account, there is a notice immediately sent to my file. But it's like these people have never even existed."

"Huh, that is unusual. Maybe something faulty is happening in OZ."

Kenta nodded considerably. "I sure hope so, otherwise we may have another online pandemic on our hands."

* * *

_**R&R!**_


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: The outfit Yuri is wearing in the link on my profile is the outfit she's wearing in this chapter. I just wanted everyone to know that in case I can't describe it very well.**

* * *

He had no time to waste.

Today he was going to spend all the time he had with someone very special and he had no time to waste.

First, he prepared for the day. Zip up hoodie, nice sneakers, no socks, and a couple bucks in his beige Capri pants. He thought nothing of his hair, but his mom made him go back to his room and brush it anyway. He didn't waste any time on it, though. Two brushes and he was out the door.

It took him a while to get to town, especially since he had no mode of transportation to take him there, but he was never much of a bike rider. Walking was tedious, but it was the only time he got to relax, away from the house where his rowdy family was. Don't get him wrong, he loved his family dearly, they were as close as a family could get, but most of the time, they got on his nerves when they were too energetic and wily. That was why he couldn't waste another second there on this particular day. Not when _she_ would be waiting for him.

When he had was in the town, he continued on and occasionally slowed down to say hello to a few passersby. He didn't stop until he reached Takumura's ice cream shop. _She_ hadn't arrived yet; she told him she had some business to take care of before she would meet him. He looked at his watch. He had plenty of time. In fact, he had enough time to go in and buy his own ice cream cone. And as that hungry thought entered his mind, he saw _her_.

Throughout his whole life, he was never very enthralled by girls. And then he met her. She was the only one he cared about. And when he first saw her, he was very enticed.

There she was, walking along with her bike. She finally got a new tire, so when she had the chance, she rode into town before he did. She was wearing a white Cami dress with a yellow belt, and a topaz halter top and white shorts underneath. She had on a pair of white ankle length boots with white belts strapped around securely. On her head was a white lily hair band that pulled back some of her white bangs. When her gray eyes met his brown ones, they glinted happily and a smile graced her face. Seeing this reaction, he waved her with a timid smirk. Only she would make him feel this way.

When they were face to face, they met each other with smiles and bashfully looked away so they wouldn't see each other's flushed faces. They didn't waste anymore time after that and went into the ice cream shop. They ordered a sundae to share and did so quietly. They exchanged only a few words but they knew they didn't need to say much because their company alone was a pleasure. When they were done with the sundae, they left to wander the rest of the town. They didn't go into any other stores, they just walked on either side of her bike. Many people watched as they walked by. They were an unusual couple, but everyone could see that their relationship was more meaningful than other teenagers'.

Midday came around and the two decided to get out of the town and to a private location. Hopping onto her bike, the couple rode on until they reached a small hill with a tree on the top. They set the bike against tree and laid down on the grass. He took out his iPod and pulled out a set of ear buds. He offered one to her and she took it. They lay hand in hand as they listened to the music on shuffle. After the first song, she looked at him. He noticed her gaze and looked back. When their eyes met, their usual spark flickered and they turned their heads away once again so they wouldn't see each other's red faces.

Six songs later, they noticed the sky was turning from yellow to yellow-orange, and they knew that the sun was about to set. When the seventh song was over, he turned off the music and put away the iPod. Then they continued to look up at the sky as the rest of the day went by. Reflecting on their day, they realized they didn't do much, but it was a great day nonetheless because they spent it together, alone.

"Kazuma."

"Hn."

"Tomorrow is our first day back to school."

"Hn."

"Summer will be over."

"Not yet."

She looked over at him and smiled. "It's getting late. We should head back before your mom has a fit."

But before she could even move, he pulled her down into a kiss. When he pulled back, he smirked with satisfaction at the stupefied expression on her face. "Yuri."

"Y-Yeah?"

"You wanna get up now?"

She nodded before moving off of him and standing. She grabbed her bike and began down the hill while he followed her. Once he caught up to her, he took her hand and kissed her cheek. "So, what did think?"

"Of what?" she asked dubiously.

"This summer. Was it the best?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Was it the best to you?"

He squeezed her hand. "By far… Well?"

She hummed to herself for one agonizing moment. She already had an answer, but she had to tease him a bit. "… Out of all my summers ever, I'd have to say… this one was my all time favorite."

He smiled contently. "Do you think they're having too much fun on OZ without us?" he said.

"You just can't wait to get back, can you?"

"Hn."

She giggled. "Don't worry, Kazuma. Once we get home, we'll find out."

And on that note, the couple continued to walk in the blissful silence, relishing the time they had to themselves before the sunset.

* * *

Among the roaming avatars of the OZ universe, the notorious King Kazma stood watching over his fellow OZ citizens. It felt good to be the king again. Of course, he had always been the king, but several months ago, he didn't feel that way. In fact, life was as boring as a king's life could be. It wasn't until he met his commanding officer, one of the most powerful avatars in OZ, when his life finally became exciting again. It was the best summer of his life. And now, as he looked over the citizens of OZ, he couldn't think of a better way to spend his time than working for the OZ Security Task Force.

… Well, he could think of one.

"Hey, Kazma."

The white rabbit turned and saw the mischievous trio, Vinnie, Giuseppe, and The Unknown. They were the three avatars that tried to incarcerate him when he tried to find Usagi so he could join this organization. Vinnie was the German Doberman dressed like an Italian mobster, Italian suit, fedora, the works. He was a very temperamental character; no one wanted to be around him and his UZ, well, ever. Giuseppe was the puppy dressed like a samurai. He was levelheaded most of the time—well, he had to be when Vinnie was always trying to make him snap. And then there was The Unknown. He didn't have a real name. When someone first joins OZ their name is set as Unknown until they change it themselves, but rumor had it that The Unknown kept his name just as it was when he first joined the OZ community. He was dressed like a cowboy in black, but under his hat no one could see anything but his white eyes. With his enigmatic appearance, he was a very intimidating character to be around, and since he didn't talk, he was easy to get along with, too. He was the glue that kept their little group together.

When King Kazma was formally introduced to the bunch, he didn't know what to think of them. He didn't understand why Usagi allowed them to work together when Vinnie could barely get along with Giuseppe, and The Unknown just stood around while they resolved their issues violently. But when he finally saw them in action, he realized that they were probably the best OZ-ecutive team there ever was.

As the trio approached him, Vinnie couldn't call out to Kazma. "Hey, Kazma! Where've you been? You were with Usagi, weren't ya? Did ya get a little action?"

"Why is that any of your business?"

The Doberman smirked nefariously. "I take it that's a yes, eh?"

He sighed. Sometimes, he wondered how Giuseppe and The Unknown didn't lose their tempers around him.

"You two seem to be getting closer," Giuseppe noted.

"I don't see why it matters to you guys."

"Jeez. And you thought I was the dog," Vinnie grunted to Giuseppe.

"You still are."

"What's that supposed to mean!"

"It means you're a dog."

"Why you wise-cracking son of a…!"

The Unknown stood by with nothing to say, as usual. That was one of the many things Kazma liked about him. He kept his opinions to himself and he only got involved into other people's business when it was necessary. Of course, he was no help when these two were on a roll.

"I swear, one of these days…!"

"You're going to do what, Vinnie?" Kazma said. "I swear, you say the same things everyday. You never do anything to Giuseppe and you wouldn't be able to even if you tried. This is a no fighting zone." The Doberman crossed his arms and grumbled curses under his breath. "Look, I don't have time for this. I need to find Luka. Where is he?"

"I heard he was over at the arcade," Giuseppe answered.

"Thanks."

"Well, as much as we'd like to stay," Vinnie said, "we're going to have to leave ya, Kazma. See ya round!"

Giuseppe gave Kazuma an apology before he and the Doberman flew off. The Unknown looked at him and nodded. King Kazma did the same before the cowboy flew off. The two always had a deeper understanding than they had with other members of the OSTF; very few words (all of which were Kazma's words) were needed when they held a conversation.

Once they were gone, Kazma flew off to the arcade. That was a peculiar place Luka chose to be. The Siberian tiger was someone who didn't joke around, and he especially didn't partake in any games, though Kazma didn't really blame him. He wondered what exactly drew the second in command to such a mundane place.

Kazma spotted Luka on top of the mall platform. He landed next to him, the tiger spoke, "Didn't expect you to come back so soon, Kazma. Don't you have the day off?"

"Yeah, but I guess I was afraid of missing some action."

"Well then you're wasting your time. Nothing's really happened since you were gone. Although the most activity is in the arcade. It's become very popular recently, especially this one new game. Have you heard of _Konton_?"

"No, I don't think so. What is it?"

"It's supposed to be this thrilling version of laser tag, except there are no rules."

"Sounds like a good way to waste your time," Kazma muttered, "and OZ's ticket to chaos."

"Exactly. But that's only attracting more people. No one's really concerned about their own safety." Kazma wondered why Kenta would allow such a game to be in the OZ arcade. A game with no rules? Even Kenta wouldn't make such a risk, not after the incident with Love Machine. "I'm only covering the arcade myself, but if anything gets out of hand, then we're probably going to need more OZ-ecutives in this area."

"I'll be sure to tell Usagi when I meet up with her later."

"Speaking of Usagi, I think today was her day off, too. And I believe she logged on the same time you did. What have you two been doing?"

Kazma recognized that tone. Whenever Luka started teasing him, he suddenly remembered that the Siberian tiger avatar was actually controlled by a girl. And for the sake of both their reputations, Luka was only this flippant when they were alone. Kazma didn't need to give Vinnie a reason to be a bigger pain in the ass.

"You know, you're not the first person to ask me that question, and I'm going to have to give you the same answer."

Luka smirked at him. "Lighten up, Kazma. I'll see you later."

When the tiger left, Kazma sighed. Two months and he was still having a hard time loosening up. On OZ, everyone took King Kazma very seriously—they practically feared him—but after he joined the OSTF, that changed. There was Luka, the troublesome trio, and lastly the commissioner of the OSTF herself. Others members tried to be jesting, but with his high rank and his intimidating demeanor, they knew better than to try and mess with the white rabbit.

Abruptly after Luka left, Kazma received a private message from Usagi:

_**Hey, where are you? I've been waiting.**_

Kazma smirked.

_**Don't worry about it. I'm on my way.**_

He didn't have time to lift off before he got another message.

_**Alright. Just don't keep me waiting any longer.**_

Like he'd do that.

Once he reached Usagi's Oasis, he found Usagi waiting outside for him. "Hey, what are you doing out here?"

"Waiting," she simply replied. "Why?"

"It's just that you usually wait for me inside."

"Well, I decided to break the routine."

"You know, if the others see us together, we'll never hear the end of it."

"I don't care what they think." She went over and touched her nose to his. Being inches away from his face made her tempted to lean down a few more inches until their lips touched, but she chose to stay that way. "We've never actually kissed online before, have we?"

"Wouldn't that be kind of weird?"

"And this isn't?"

King Kazma suddenly remembered that Usagi was still nose to nose with him, so he backed away. "It's… not the same."

Her eyes softened. "I know what you mean. Maybe we should continue this… elsewhere?"

Giving her a suggestive smile, Kazma gave her another Eskimo kiss before flying backwards. "I'll see you at home."

When he was gone, Yuki added one last note.

"Home; now that's something I can get used to."

**O.O**

After closing her PC, Yuri stretched and yawned from this long, exhausting day. She glanced at the clock. 10: 28. She never signed off of OZ so early, before. And she the day wasn't over yet.

Shortly after, Kazuma came into the room. "Hey."

"Hey, you."

Kazuma joined her on the bed. "Wanna finish what we started?" He wait for her to answer as he began nibbling her neck.

"K-K-Kazuma," she stuttered. His kisses always sent chills down her spine. "We could get caught."

"Everyone's asleep."

"They'll wake up."

"I doubt it."

"_Kazuma_…"

He stopped when he was about to reach her lips. "Fine. But I'm staying in here tonight."

Yuri rolled her eyes. "Okay." Though she was actually excited by the fact her boyfriend would be joining her in bed. It wasn't the first time he spent the night in her room. They never did anything they weren't supposed to; they just exchanged kisses, nothing more. So far they'd never been caught, but Yuri was starting to think it would be better if they stopped this for a while. One more night wouldn't be a problem, she thought.

Climbing under the covers, Yuri sighed contently as Kazuma put and arm around her waist. "One more thing."

"What?" she whined.

"You didn't give me a goodnight kiss," he pouted.

Yuri giggled as she rolled over and planted one on Kazuma. "Is that all?"

"Not quite." Kazuma came in for one more sweet, long-lasting kiss before slowly reaching back. "_Now_ I'm satisfied. Goodnight, Yuri."

"Goodnight, Kazuma."

With their hands intertwined, the teens fell into a blissful sleep, and dreaming about the wonderful day they had.

* * *

**Sorry it took so long to update. Ever since I came back to school, my teachers have been really getting on my ass with the homework they assigned. But I won't let that bring me down. I promise to update my stories sooner!**

_**R&R!**_


	3. Chapter 2

The next day Yuri woke up to the sound of Kazuma's steady breathing, his breath tickling her nose. When she tried to get up, she found Kazuma's arms tightly wrapped around her waist. As much as she wanted to stay in his arms, she knew they had to get up otherwise they'd get caught.

"Kazuma," she whispered softly.

"Mmmm…"

"Kazuma, I know you're awake."

He didn't say anything this time.

"Kazuma, if you don't wake up I'll deduct your pay."

"You don't even pay me," he mumbled, his hot breath hitting her neck. He started planting kisses along her collarbone. "That's not going to be enough to 'wake me up'."

"… Chiyo's coming."

All of a sudden, Kazuma threw the covers off the bed, jumped over his girlfriend, and shot out of the room like a bullet. Yuri couldn't help laughing. His mom might've been intrusive at times, but ever since she started living at the Jinnouchi manor, Chiyo would come around to bother them at the most inconvenient times. It annoyed Kazuma the most, but there was nothing he could do about it since Yuri adored her so much. So the last thing he wanted was to get caught in bed with Yuri by his little sister, the blabber mouth.

When he was gone, Yuri prepared herself for the day. Her uniform sat on top of her drawer with a little note on top. She opened it up and saw Kiyomi's signature:

_Have a nice day, Yuri! Don't let Kazuma distract you!_

_-Kiyomi_

Yuri smiled. Kiyomi was always thinking about her. She treated her like a daughter ever since she moved in, and Yuri always thought of her as a second mother. It was so nice being in an actual home with an actual family. She never wanted this feeling to go away.

Once she was dressed and had all her things gathered together, Yuri went to the picture of her smiling parents in the perfect black frame that sat on her dresser. "Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad." She kissed her index and middle fingers and put them on the frame. "I'll see you guys later."

Yuri made her way to the kitchen. Kiyomi was already busy preparing breakfast while Chiyo sat in her highchair. She waved her arms at Yuri enthusiastically, wanting to be picked up. "Yuwi! Yuwi!"

"Good morning, Chi," she said.

Just as she was about to pick up the toddler, Kazuma lazily came in with his book bag. "Don't spoil her, Yuri," he said. "She's three."

"Oh, lighten up, Kazuma," Kiyomi said to her son. "She's not spoiling her. Chiyo just loves Yuri." Yuri and Chiyo stuck their tongues out at him. He ignored them as he took a seat at the table.

"Now eat up, you two." Kiyomi set down two full plates in front of Kazuma and Yuri's spot. "You have a big day!"

"It's just the first day of school," Kazuma said. "It's not a big deal."

Yuri silently agreed as she dug into her meal. School was never a big deal to her. All she did was learn and then leave. She didn't talk to anyone, she never joined any clubs, and she doubted she would this year. She was still a _hikikomori_; she had trouble fitting in at school as it was. But now that she was going to school with her boyfriend, it seemed a little worth the bore of learning.

When they were done eating, Yuri got her bike prepared for their journey into town. Kazuma decided to ride while Yuri stood on the back bars. When the two rode into town, they saw that many of the other teenagers were already on their way into the school. They stopped behind a fence a few yards away. Not many people were aware of their relationship and they wanted to keep it that way. They didn't want the whole student body to know the only two_ hikikomoris_ in the school were going out—if it even mattered.

"I'll put away the bike," Yuri said. "You can look at the class lists."

Kazuma nodded and gave her a kiss before they parted ways.

There was a mass of students standing in front of the board searching for their classes. Kazuma was a little taller than some of the students that were in the way, so he was able to catch a glimpse of his name. He was in class 2D. He tried searching for Yuri's name, but he could only see the back of an Otaku lover's head. He grunted in irritation and stood back as he waited for the crowd to get smaller.

"Did you see?" Kazuma saw Yuri had finally joined him. She didn't have the pleasure of height as he did, so she couldn't see anything.

"I'm in 2D," Kazuma said.

"Did you see my name?"

He shook his head. "Too many people."

A few minutes later, the crowd had gotten incredibly smaller, and only three people were left. Kazuma and Yuri took their chance and went up. This time, Kazuma could clearly see his name on the Room 2D list, but he couldn't say the same for Yuri. "We're not in the same class," he said incredulously. It was strange because he and Yuri had been in the same class last year and now that they were a couple they would be separated.

"That's okay," Yuri said. "I'm in 3B. That's not… so far away."

Kazuma could tell from the tone in her voice that she wasn't too happy about this arrangement, either. To comfort her, he took her hand. Yuri looked up at him in astonishment. They promised not to make any displays of affection in public, yet he took her hand and he didn't seem to care who saw them, not that there were many people around to watch.

"It'll be fine," he said reassuringly. "We can meet up at lunch."

Yuri nodded. "Okay." She looked away for a moment when she noticed the other students heading inside. "I guess… I'll see you later, then." She squeezed his hand one more time before walking away. Kazuma waved at her before he began venturing into the building.

Once he put his shoes away, Kazuma slowly made his way to his class. He noted there were a few new people. He saw many of his old classmates and a few familiar ones he'd seen last year when he was walking through the halls. None of them were his friends, and it was already starting to get lonely, not to mention boring, without Yuri. Kazuma had once heard that you knew you were in love when you couldn't stop thinking about that special someone, and he already missed Yuri like hell.

Kazuma took the third window seat. This way everyone knew not to approach him. He could see across the premises into other classrooms. When he saw Yuri walk into the one right across from his, his head whipped up. Room 3B was farther away than he thought. He also saw her taking a seat next to the window, except she seemed to be facing away from it. If only there was some way he could get her attention.

Then he remembered his cell phone. He had her number on speed dial. Someone took the seat in front of him just as he was reaching into his pocket. When they turned around, he focus was still on the cell phone. When they tapped his desk, he flipped it open. When they said hi, Kazuma was punching in the number. But when they slapped their hand on the desk, this caused him to accidentally push the END button. Kazuma had finally come to their attention.

"What, you can't say hello to a fellow classmate?" the student said. She didn't sound like anyone he knew.

When he looked up, he saw a girl with really long raven hair and a large rack. He wouldn't have noticed that last thing if she didn't tower over him like so—he had a girlfriend, after all. Her brown eyes shone with a bit of haughtiness. She must've known he was about to make a call, otherwise she wouldn't have looked so smug about making him misdial.

"I don't talk," he said, "to anyone."

"You're talking to me right now," she retorted. "And you were just about to call someone. Was it your girlfriend?"

Kazuma quickly hid his cell phone away and kept his hands in his pockets. He wasn't going to prove her right by making any sort of response.

"No, wait. I bet it was that girl over there," she said as she pointed out the window. Her gaze lay on Yuri. "That's your girlfriend, isn't it? She's a cutie, and she looks too nice to be with an asshole like you."

"Why don't you mind your own business?" he snapped.

The girl frowned. "I was just trying to make conversation. You're just moping here in the corner—"

"I'm not in a corner."

"You know what I mean. What's your problem, anyway? Are you afraid of making friends or something?"

"I'm not afraid of anyone. I'm just not a people person. Now stop bothering me."

The stranger huffed before taking a seat. Kazuma was still angry that she hadn't moved to a different spot, but at least she wasn't talking to him anymore. "My name's Tanya, by the way." Kazuma hung his head back until his neck was resting on the back of the chair and grunted exasperatedly.

This was going to be a long day.

* * *

Room 3B was a lot farther from 2D than Yuri thought.

When she entered the classroom, five or six people had already taken their seats and were talking with their friends. Other people were reading or standing around as they waited for their teacher to arrive. Instead of taking the corner like she usually did, Yuri took the seat just in front of it right next to the last window. She usually took the corner because no one would notice her, but sitting next to the window seemed like a good change of pace. At least she wouldn't get so easily caught by the teacher the next time she decided to doodle in her workbook.

Yuri sat down and sighed. She couldn't help noticing how everyone knew each other, and she didn't know any of them. She couldn't even recognize the people who were in her class last year. Even though she never talked to any of them, she knew most of them by name and appearance. Of course she'd never taken classes on this side of the building, so everything was naturally different. At least she didn't have to talk to anyone—the one perk of being a _hikikomori_.

The class started with the usual routine. The teacher had each student stand from their desk to introduce themselves and tell class their likes, dislikes, what they want to accomplish this year, blah, blah, blah… It was her least favorite part of the first day of school. Luckily for her, Yuri was on the far end of the room, so it would be a while before it was her turn to stand up in front of all these strangers.

Two minutes into the class and she was already starting to get bored. And lonely. Without Kazuma, it seemed pointless being here. None of these kids were at all appealing to her. None of them had anything in common with her. To pass the time, Yuri decided to look out the window.

It seemed much nicer outside than it did inside. A calm breeze passed through, causing some of the cherry blossoms to fly by. She almost felt envious—but not so envious that she'd want to become a cherry blossom. As she stared at the flowers, she noticed something in the background.

"Kazuma?"

There he was sitting right across from her window with a bored expression on his face that probably looked identical to hers. He turned his head, and he smiled and waved when he spotted her. Yuri waved back. He took out his phone and looked down. She felt something vibrating in her pocket. She knew he texted her.

_**How's it going?**_

She looked up for a second. The last kid in the row next to hers had already started talking about how much he liked Otaku. She quickly replied to Kazuma's text.

_**It's going slowly.**_

His reply was quicker.

_**Same here.**_

The first kid in her row was already speaking. She was third, which meant it wouldn't be long until it was her turn.

_**What are you guys doing?**_

For some reason, it took a while for Kazuma to respond. When she looked up, she saw him also looking up and narrowing his eyes. He must've been looking at the board. Yuri couldn't help rolling her eyes. He had to be bored (no pun intended) if he had no idea what was going on in his own class.

"Miss Takane."

Yuri quickly put her phone inside her desk when she heard the teacher approach her. He looked handsome for a high school teacher, with freshly combed black hair and lightly tanned skin. His brown eyes glared down at her behind his lenses. She sat there with her hands folded on her desk innocently as if she had never taken out her phone.

"Ah, yes, I've heard about you. The straight 'A' student who lets her mind wander into her drawings during class. But I'll have you know I won't allow foolishness in my class, even from you. Now please stand and introduce yourself."

Yuri silently stood, not feeling the least embarrassed about being called out by the teacher. She wasn't the least bit interested in what they were doing and being a part of it didn't make her anymore enthused.

"My name is Takane Yuri," she said. She sat back down without explaining further.

"And…?" the teacher said. "Isn't there anything else you'd like to share with the rest of the class? Your interests? What you'd want to accomplish?"

"Nope."

The teacher blinked quizzically. "Alright…"

When the next few kids were done with their introductions, he finally started teaching. With this distraction, Yuri took her phone back out. Kazuma had left some responses.

_**I think it has to do with geography.**_

_**No, wait. Math.**_

_**Something like that.**_

_**What about you?**_

Yuri silently laughed. She expected that sort of answer from him.

_**We just started English.**_

But before she could send it, Kazuma responded again.

_**I saw the teacher come to your desk. Did I get you in trouble?**_

She quickly looked back up to see if the teacher was paying any attention to her. His back was facing her as he continued to write on the board. She sent her first text before responding to Kazuma's distress message.

_**No. It was nothing. Did your teacher catch you?**_

Yuri looked out the window this time. Kazuma seemed as laidback as usual.

_**Nah. She's too busy going off on another kid.**_

Yuri smiled but it didn't last long. It was nice getting these messages from Kazuma, reading things that he would say if they were face-to-face, but it just wasn't the same.

_**We shouldn't do this too often… I miss you.**_

This time, she saw Kazuma frown. He looked out the window and smiled. Then she got his text.

_**Let's meet at lunch. On the roof.**_

He pointed up. Yuri nodded.

_**I'll see you there.**_

Yuri sighed. The clock said 10:34—10:35.

Time seemed to mock her by passing so slowly. When lunch came around, Yuri casually left the room before running off to the roof. Kazuma was already at the door. "How'd you get here so fast?"

"It's not that far. I figured it wouldn't take you as long since our classrooms are equally far away from the door. I'm surprised it took you so long."

"My teacher's relentless."

"Tell me about it."

The roof was probably the most tranquil location in the school. No one else was up here and they were relieved. They didn't want anyone intervening on their alone time. There were a few benches for students who decided to eat on the roof. They sat facing the gate so they could see over the school. Some of the students were wandering around. As they watched, they couldn't help thinking how this simple moment was enough to satisfy them both for now.

"People watching," Yuri said. "Is that our new school tradition?"

"We never had any school traditions. We didn't even know each other back then," Kazuma reminded her after he popped a rice ball into her mouth. "It's all new and weird. And these classes aren't as fun as I thought they would be."

"Of course they aren't. It's school."

"Yeah, but it would've been a lot different if you were there with me." Kazuma leaned back and gazed up at the sky. "It's weird. Two months ago, I wouldn't have cared about something like this."

Yuri sighed. "Yeah, I know what you mean… Now that I think about it, isn't it ironic that we were in the same class when we didn't even know each other, but this year we're in different classes now that we're a couple?"

"That's not ironic. That's just life being a bitch."

Suddenly, the door to the roof opened up, revealing the annoying girl from Kazuma's class. When she saw the couple, a giant smile appeared on her face.

Kazuma dropped his head. "Speaking of bitches…"

"I thought I'd find you here," Tanya said. "You're so emo the roof is definitely the first place you'd be."

"What are _you_ doing up here?"

"I like the view." She paused when she recognized the white-haired girl sitting next to him. "That's the girl from earlier, isn't it?"

"Go away."

Tanya ignored him as she approached Yuri, who was too timid to speak at the moment. "Hi, I'm Tanya." Yuri continued to say nothing as she bit into her rice ball. "What's wrong with her?"

"She doesn't talk, either," Kazuma said. "We like our privacy."

"Well then, that's something we have in common." Tanya walked over to the bench sitting at the other gate. "I'll just be over here. You won't even notice I'm here."

Kazuma shook his head. This was definitely going to be a long day.

* * *

**I'm sorry it's taking so long to update. My mind is just so jumbled. I'm getting prepared for NANOWRIMO again, and I really think I'm going to nail it this time.**

_**R&R!**_


	4. Chapter 3

When school was over, Kazuma couldn't have been more relieved. The knowledge that he supposedly gained was lost in the back of his mind. The only thing he could focus on was getting as far away from Tanya as he could and getting home, but first he had to find Yuri. However, once she met him outside, she had a different plan.

"Go home without me," she said. "There's something I have to take care of first."

He shrugged. "I'll come with."

"That's not necessary, really." She kissed his cheek chastely. "I'll catch up. Just don't wait up."

He watched her curiously as she walked her bike out of the schoolyard. As soon as she left, Tanya all of a sudden came out of nowhere and joined his side. "Aw, did your girlfriend ditch you?" she teased. His face remained stoic. "Lighten up, will ya? You've been like this all day. What, you don't like school or something?"

"Something like that," he muttered. When he began to walk, she followed in sync. "Don't you have a home?"

"Well, walking can get lonely… Where are you going?"

"_Home._ Where else?"

Tanya pouted. "Sorry. I didn't think it'd be too much trouble… I'll see you tomorrow."

_Don't count on it_, Kazuma thought bitterly. He and Yuri were going to have to find another spot to each their lunch. He waited for Tanya to turn the corner before continuing forward.

As he made his way home, that vapid feeling inside of him began to emerge and he cursed Tanya for reminding him. He was hoping to go home with Yuri, and walking alone _sucked_; though it was better than having a garrulous, irksome girl follow him home. He could already imagine all the irately embarrassing things his family would say if they saw him coming home with a girl like her instead of Yuri.

Kazuma suddenly felt his phone vibrate in his pocket when he was halfway through town. He didn't recognize the number. When he opened his phone, there was strange text:

_**Here's an opportunity you can't resist: You're in for a surprise! Just dial this number ************_

He immediately deleted it. Wrong number.

There was another one that came five minutes later.

_**Here's another chance! Just dial—**_

No chance. He deleted this one, too.

Then another came.

_**This is your last opportunity—!**_

Didn't this guy get the picture? He _wasn't_ interested.

Kazuma shut off his phone irately. His mom would yell at him for turning off his phone if she called, but he would face the consequences. He wasn't in the mood to deal with this shit right now. All he wanted to do was go on OZ and—

All of a sudden, his phone went off. Kazuma stopped.

_There's no way—I turned it off._

He slowly reached into his pocket and flipped his phone open.

_**Are you sure?**_

"Kazuma?"

Kazuma nearly dropped his phone. Yuri stood behind him with a confused look. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah. I'm fine." He quickly put his phone back in his pocket. "You caught up fast."

"I told you I would. It wasn't going to take me long. We're already at the edge of town." Kazuma didn't realize where he had stopped. That text still disturbed him. He was glad Yuri had come when she did. He always felt better with her around.

"So," he put an arm around her as they made their way home, "what's on our schedule for today?"

"Well, I was going to start on my homework."

After a pause, she and Kazuma began laughing. It was ludicrous. Sure, homework was important, but why would they waste their first day of school on work when they could procrastinate. They would still do it—eventually—but after the rough day they had in separate classes, studying tedious subjects, and dealing with suspiciously vigilant, not to mention cranky, teachers, they just wanted a break from their ordinary lives.

"But seriously, Yuri," Kazuma said, "you owe me for making me walk home by myself."

"I told you I would catch up. And you were almost home."

"You _owe_ me," he repeated before nipping on her neck. Knowing the effect that had on her sensitive skin, Kazuma smirked victoriously.

"Fine," Yuri pouted. "You know, I hate it when you do that to me."

"I know."

She gave him a fixed glance. "Okay, King Kazma, what did you have in mind for us?"

* * *

"OW!"

Kazuma practically dived into the ground trying to avoid Yuri's renowned roundhouse kick. He and Yuri had start sparring with each other when she moved into the manor, and he had been trying to overcome that move ever since. So far, he'd only been left with bruises and a few face-plants into the dirt. Needless to say, his efforts had been very unsuccessful.

"How about warning me when you're going ricochet off my block like that?" he cried. "Dammit!"

Yuri got into the iron body stance. "Sorry, but there's no mercy in this dojo."

"We're outside!"

Their audience, Chiyo and Hayate, cheered noisily in the background for the winning opponent. Kazuma glared at them. "Whose side are you on?" Chiyo merely giggled in response.

"Isn't it obvious, Kazuma?" Yuri asked playfully. "They're rooting for the winning side, a.k.a. me. And if you want to defeat me, you're going to have to do better than that."

He grunted as he got off the ground. "Fine. Then I'll do better."

Yuri motioned for him to come at her.

He threw a punch, but he merely scraped her shoulder. "Is that the best you got?" Kazuma growled. He was never provoked by such jeers, but whenever they came from Yuri, or her notorious avatar Usagi, there was always that sudden drive; she made him a better martial artist.

All of a sudden, Yuri was swept under her feet and pinned to the ground. Warm, savory lips crushed hers with a fiery passion that was so angry, arousing her. She easily submitted. "You cheated," she murmured against his lips. He knew she couldn't resist once his lips made contact. She wrapped her arms around his neck as she deepened the kiss. "Damn you."

Kazuma bit her lip. "Say it."

"Kazuma—"

He kissed her again. "You have to. I won, remember?"

"You _cheated_."

"Say it," he growled against her lips.

She rolled her eyes. "All hail King Kazuma."

He gave her one last kiss. "Damn right."

Chiyo covered her eyes. "Ew!"

"Alright, you two." Kiyomi came just in time to stop the teens from getting carried away. "There's no need to scar Chiyo for life."

"_Mom._" Kazuma groaned as he got off of Yuri.

Yuri blushed furiously when she realized someone had been watching them the whole time. Whenever she was with Kazuma, it was just them, together. But as soon as that barrier was broken, she was back in Reality, and it was humiliating. As soon as Kazuma helped her up, she ran inside.

"Mom, you embarrassed her."

"Well, you two need to be more careful where you… _you know_."

"Mom, we are careful. I just… I'm sorry, okay? I can't help myself whenever I'm around Yuri," he admitted. He never thought he'd admit it to his mother, though.

Kiyomi looked at her son with genuinely concern. "Kazuma, have you and Yuri ever…?"

Kazuma's face was flushed with the brightest red his mother had ever seen. "_Mom!_"

"What? It's not uncommon for teenagers to—"

"_No!_ No we haven't!"

"Good. I'm glad you kids are being smart, smarter than most kids nowadays." Kiyomi picked up Chiyo. "Chiyo, learn from your brother." The toddler nodded obediently even though she had no clue what they were talking about.

Kazuma turned to leave when his mother called out to him again. "Have you ever thought about doing it, though?" she asked.

Kazuma stopped. His infamous pokerface worked expertly, but he could never fool his mother. "… Yeah, I have." He left without another word. He knew his mother would always trust him to make the right choice. Even though she pried most of the time, she always meant well, and he was thankful for that (but he would never admit it).

By the time he got to his room, Yuri had already changed out of her sweaty attire and was working on his desktop. "What took you so long?"

"I had to talk with my mom," Kazuma answered honestly. He began changing as her back faced her. "Are you okay?" he asked as he took off his shirt.

"Yeah, I got over it. I guess I still haven't gotten over this shy thing. Being a _hikikomori_ isn't easy, especially when you're trying to 'break the habit'."

Kazuma pulled the white wife beater over his head. "Yeah, I know what you mean. We just started dating, too, and I don't mean to do anything that makes you uncomfortable, Yuri."

"I know you don't." Yuri gave him a curt kiss. "Now stop with this mushy crap. It's not you. Sign on and let's do this."

Kazuma smirked. What would he do without Yuri?

"Okay, but first, get off my laptop."

**O.O**

As soon as they logged into OZ, Kazma and Usagi were already met with trouble on their hands.

The strange occurrence that had been happening around the arcade had reached into a phenomenon, which made many of the other OZ citizens anxious. The day before, Kazuma had been informed about the new game featured in the OZ arcade, _Konton_. It had just been put on record as the most popular game in the OZ arcade this morning. He assumed the game was the cause of the bedlam ensuing outside the casino. He spotted some of the OZ-ecutives blocking the entrances.

"What the ****…" Kazma mumbled.

"Kazma! Usagi!"

They spotted their comrade Luka approaching them apprehensively. Kazma never thought he'd see that ferocious tiger with such a fretful look. It almost scared him.

"What's going on down there, Luka?" Usagi demanded angrily. "You better have an explanation for this! I didn't authorize you to block off the arcade!"

"No, but I did."

A little ball of what fur suddenly appeared in front of him. Kei sat on cloud, her bandana slightly tousled. But what really put Kazma off was the serious expression on her face. That wasn't the white fox he usually encountered on occasion. There had to be trouble.

"Why? What's going on, Kenta?" Usagi asked.

Kei glared at her. The she-bunny backed off a bit, as did Kazma. He didn't think Kei was capable of giving dirty looks, and he never thought it'd be so intimidating coming from a chibi fox with five stubby tails. It was actually very effective. "Please stick with the usernames, Usagi. You don't know when someone else I didn't mean to undermine your authority, but you weren't here and this needed to be done."

"Care to explain?" Kazma inquired.

"That new game, _Konton_. It's dangerous. Too many people are playing and less people are leaving the arcade."

"So? People usually stay up to play those stupid games all the time."

"You don't understand. They _never_ leave the game. _Ever_. And their accounts are terminated from the system permanently."

King Kazma and Usagi's eyes dilated. "What?" Usagi said. "How is that even possible? Is it a virus?"

"No. It's like a hacker."

"A hacker…" Usagi drifted a little lower. Kazma frowned at the dejected look on her face. This had to be hard for her. She was the commissioner of the OZ Security Task Force. A hacker had slipped past her and her officers. He couldn't imagine how she was feeling.

"So a hacker is coming into the game and destroying OZ accounts? What's the point of that?"

"We don't know why it's doing that and we don't know if this guy is truly a hacker," Kei said. "And until my boys can get a solid code on this guy, no one is allowed into the arcade or the casinos." Kei flew down a little closer to the crowd to show them what their OZ-ecutive. "I ordered them to seal off the premises. If anyone tries to get in, then their accounts will be temporarily suspended."

Kazma looked a bit closer. These weren't normal OZ-ecutives. They didn't have the star badges and they all wore the same black uniform. The OZ symbol was glowing on their backs. "Who are those guys?"

"They're my black Ops team. They're the geniuses behind the OSTF. They have certain privileges that not even the commissioner can get a hold of." Kei glanced at Usagi quickly. "No offense."

"No, _that_ wasn't offensive at all," she replied sarcastically. "In fact, _none of this_ is offensive. Luka, I'm leaving you in charge today. I'm going Home." The she-bunny flew off in a flash.

"She's upset."

"You think?" Kazma said wryly.

"She'll get over it. She knows I would have to take precautionary measures on my own if something like this ever happened. Usagi has to remember she doesn't have full control. In fact, some of my associates didn't think it would be a good idea to entrust a minor the position of commissioner of OZ's mainframe security. I'd like to prove them wrong, but that would mean there'd have to be certain restrictions."

"Well, it doesn't seem like Usagi understands, and I don't blame her for getting angry," Kazma said. "But I guess you gotta do what you gotta in order to keep this place safe. We wouldn't want another Love Machine incident."

"No, we wouldn't," Kei replied grimly. "I'm glad you understand."

"Yeah. I'll see you round, Kei. I'm going to see if Usagi's cooled down."

As soon as Kazma arrived at USAGI'S OASIS, he saw that there was a privacy sign on the front. She must've been extremely pissed, he surmised. She never usually put a privacy sign on her door since everyone knew to stay away whenever she was in her Home. But then he saw in tiny print "That means you, Kazma" on the bottom. If he wasn't allowed in, then she was seriously letting out some steam.

"Come on, Usagi. Let me in."

A note appeared above the door. **"LEAVE ME ALONE."**

"I'm not leaving until you either come out or let me in."

The privacy door disappeared. She knew he was a stubborn ass.

On the other side, she met his with a scowl. "Stubborn ***."

"I know what you're thinking, Usagi."

"What? That I shouldn't be upset because _one_ person got past my task force? That everyone makes mistakes and I should just let it go?"

"No, I wasn't going to say all that." She rolled her eyes. "But you really shouldn't be upset." He took her shoulders. "Usagi, you are the best there is—well, _one _of the best." She grunted for him to continue. "But you know who Kei is, and he's not going to undermine you out of spite."

"I know. I just… I've never felt so powerless before."

"Don't. Don't think like that. Think… Well, think of all the times you kicked my *** down here."

She smirked. "Yeah, okay. That does help a little." She kissed his cheek. "Thanks. I'm logging off. I've had enough of OZ for today."

"I'm going to stay on for a while longer. I'm not sure if Luka will need my help, but better safe than sorry, you know?"

"Alright. Goodnight, Kazma."

Kazma exited her Home before she logged off. A lock appeared on the door, indicating she was officially offline. He went back to his own Home, which he dubbed KING KAZMA'S PALACE. It wasn't anything like USAGI'S OASIS, though. There weren't any floating platforms with trees and such. It was more like his room at home, except the walls were blue. There was a closet, a desk, a window, a desktop similar to his own, a few MMA poster from his winning matches, and even a game console which was just there for show. Even though it was plain, he always felt at Home, which was weird since he could've just logged off and spent some time in his actual home. But where was the fun in that?

Before he went to see how Luka was holding up, Kazma saw that he had a new message. It was from anonymous. Probably someone who wanted to be acquaintances with him, he thought dryly.

However, he found a message similar to the one that had been hassling him that afternoon.

_**You can't refuse this offer, King Kazma. We know everything.**_

Kazma deleted the message and logged off.

**O.O**

Kazuma shut his PC hastily, not bothering to consider if he disturbed the sleeping patron beside him. He didn't know who that creep was, but he had a feeling it had something to do with the hacker in that _Konton_ game, and somehow, he was able to find him online. He was no safer than the other OZ citizens.

He sighed and glanced at his side. Yuri was sound asleep in his bed. Seeing her like this, so calm and oblivious of his problems, put him at ease, if only a little.

_But there's little I can do at the moment._

For now, he would follow Yuri's lead and go to sleep. Then, suddenly, he remembered that they hadn't done any homework.

"... Shit."

* * *

**I'm so sorry that I haven't update in so long! I know how impatient some of you have been. I was doing NANOWRIMO again (and lost, again) and I decided to take a little break from writing. I also got an account on Deviantart, but I won't put up a link until I've got some art up.**

**Anyway, I hope this chapter has alleviated some fears. I'm going to update quicker chapters, for this story and others, hopefully before Christmas. I'm not updating anything on Christmas!**

_**R&R!**_


	5. Chapter 4

"So, where exactly do you go after school?"

"Why do you need to know?"

Kazuma shrugged. "I don't know. I just feel it's something I need to know, as your boyfriend. I don't want you getting into any trouble."

Yuri giggled. "You know I can defend myself, right? If I was in any trouble, I'd just kick their sorry asses."

"So, who are _they_?"

"Kazuma…" she groaned.

"Are the lovebirds fighting?"

The couple stopped when they heard Kazuma's new "friend". It had been a couple weeks since school started, and Kazuma hadn't gotten any new messages from this anonymous stranger. Kazuma still had to go home on his own and Tanya was still as annoying as ever. Now he only had two problems: his girlfriend's after school disappearances and Tanya.

First, he'd have to deal with Tanya.

"Why are you still following us?" he asked irately.

"Aren't you guys heading for lunch?"

"Why do you need to know?"

Tanya crossed her arms. "Something tells me that you don't want me around."

Kazuma and Yuri exchanged glances. "You think?" he said.

"Hey, cut me some slack. This is my first year back in Japan and I was just hoping to make some new friends."

Kazuma and Yuri looked at her in puzzlement. "What do you mean it's your first year back to Japan?"

"Oh, well, I just came back from a year in Siberia. You see, my dad's Russian and he works up there, so I've been staying up there with him for some time. He decided to send me back so I could be with my mom." She laughed at their astonished faces. "Shocking, isn't it? I guess I inherited most of my looks from my mom."

"No kidding…" Kazuma mumbled as he glanced briefly at her breasts. Yuri elbowed him in the gut, causing him to grunt in pain. "Are your parents separated or something?" he asked as he looked away from her.

"Oh, no. My mom just gets homesick. She wasn't too keen on traveling, so my dad decided to go back and forth from Russia to Japan. I've been up there for a year to see if I wanted to go to school there, but I guess Siberia isn't my taste; too cold."

Kazuma didn't think he'd be interested in this girl, but Tanya was starting to become less annoying. "So, you don't have any friends or anything?"

"Well, yes and no. All my friends go to a different school."

"In Siberia?"

"No, I mean they go to a different school _here_. It's far, so it's not like I can just visit them whenever I want."

Yuri was starting to feel bad for her, even though Tanya didn't seem very downtrodden about not being with her friends. Sure, she was a bit intimidated by Tanya (mostly because she was taller and had a bigger chest), but that didn't mean they couldn't be friends. And one of the many steps of this exodus from _hikikomori_-dom had to start somewhere. However, she couldn't find the voice to speak out. Instead, she took Tanya's arm.

Kazuma almost looked aghast. He didn't think Yuri would be brave enough to speak let alone reach out to a classmate, especially not _this_ girl. He gave her a look that said, "What the hell?!" Yuri gave him another one that told him, "Be nice or else." He sighed. Sometimes, having a girlfriend could be a drag.

Tanya smiled giddily and latched onto her new friend. "Well, looks like your girlfriend likes me better, Ikezawa."

"Don't get any sick ideas," he warned.

Tanya just smirked as she began dragging Yuri to lunch. Kazuma sighed as he followed them. This girl was now more annoying than usual.

"You know what I was thinking," Tanya suddenly spoke up as they were eating.

Kazuma glared from across the roof. Yuri was sitting next to Tanya and he didn't like it. "What?" he growled.

"There should be more interesting clubs at this school. Sure, they have sports, art, even archery, but what about for those who aren't into that stuff?"

"They can just not join those clubs."

"Yeah, but what if they did want to do those things, but they're too shy, like you and Yuri-chan here." Yuri looked away sheepishly as she ate her lunch and listened to their dialogue. Sometimes, having a _hikikomori _girlfriend was also a drag, Kazuma thought, since he was the only who had to partake in this conversation.

"Why would a group of shy people join a club?"

"Not just shy people: geeks, freaks, nerds, the underground—the people that we see on the web everyday!" Kazuma and Yuri stared at her quizzically. "Don't tell me you guys haven't caught on yet." They blinked dubiously. "I'm talking about starting an OZ club."

Kazuma stared at her for a really long time before giving her his honest opinion. "That is the dumbest idea I've ever heard."

Tanya frowned. "Why is it dumb?"

"Because the underground are underground for a reason: to escape from the hell that is Reality. To some people, OZ is an investment to make their lives easier, but to the rest of us…" Kazuma saw Yuri stop eating and set her lunch. He sighed heavily. "Why do you think people like them have OZ accounts? They don't want to make contact with real people. I certainly wouldn't if I was truly committed."

"Well, shows how much of a life you got, doesn't it?"

Kazuma grumbled something between a "shut up" and "fuck off". He was never interested about the people behind the outrageous avatars on OZ. Only one had fascinated him enough to actually care, and she was sitting right across from him. He didn't find it unlikely that another _hikikomori_ would be lurking about, but being one himself, he knew he wouldn't want to get more involved with other people, especially other people as peculiar as Tanya.

"Well, maybe that's why we should have a club like that. People need to interact with each other. It's not healthy to be secluded from the world, or you might miss out on some things."

"I doubt that," Kazuma said. "If you haven't noticed, the most interesting things are happening in OZ right now."

"Well… I still think it's a good idea. What do you think, Yuri-chan?" Yuri bowed her head down. "See, she agrees!"

"She didn't even say anything!"

Then rest of the lunch period was filled with silence. Yuri was especially uncomfortable by this because it gave her time to contemplate on Tanya's idea. It wasn't a bad idea, but she also agreed with Kazuma. Anyone who would go through so much trouble to get away from other people had to be lonely and distressed.

"I think it's a good idea," she spoke up as she and Kazuma walked home.

"What's a good idea?" he asked.

"Tanya's OZ club."

"Are you kidding me? She's out of her mind."

"But I think it would be good for people… like us."

Kazuma's hardened look softened for his girlfriend. He didn't know why Yuri was suddenly apt on joining a club, let alone a club that would be established by Tanya. He noticed the look in her eyes when she latched onto Tanya at lunch. It was like she looked up to her.

"As 'enlightening' as that idea sounds," he said, "I don't think the school would approve of such an activity. I mean, an OZ club? That sounds outrageous even to me."

"I know, but… If Tanya's idea were to work, I'd like to join her club."

Kazuma sighed. "Whenever I think I know you, you say something like that and I don't even know what to think."

"And that's why I'm your girlfriend," Yuri said with a smirk.

Her smile suddenly turned into a frown. Kazuma stopped. "What is it?"

"Damn it!" She gave the handles of her bike over to him. "I'm sorry, Kazuma. I forgot I had something to do after school. Go home without me, okay?"

"By myself?"

She was already running. "Don't be a baby!"

Kazuma huffed. He was never going to get used to this. Going home without his girlfriend? That was not okay.

As he sulkily walked home with Yuri's bike, Kazuma noticed that it was eerily quiet in town. Ahead, he saw a stranger approaching. When he got closer, he saw it was a kid about his age. Same height, build and everything. His black bangs cast a shadow over his face so he couldn't see his eyes. He had one hand in his pocket, and the other was holding a sheet of paper. A satchel was over his shoulder.

When they passed each other, Kazuma glanced at the kid. When the kid lifted his face to look at him, he saw dark, indifferent eyes. And within that one glance, Kazuma could read everything. Even though he didn't know any better, he would've thought that this kid was his clone.

The kid nodded at him before continuing on. Kazuma also went back to his normal pace. You didn't find kids like that often nowadays, Kazuma thought. It's about time.

Slowly, the rabbit king walked home, itchy to get back in his domain.

* * *

The weekend that followed, Kazuma decided to do a little spying. Yuri had left earlier that morning going where he assumed she usually headed off to during school. He tried catching her several times, but he had failed at each attempt. There was only thing he could do now.

"Good morning, Kazuma," his mother said at the table with a mug of coffee. Chiyo was in her highchair halfway done with her food. "I put your food on the stove so it wouldn't get cold."

Instead of going for his awaiting meal, Kazuma went to the rice cooker and made himself some _onigiri_. "I'm leaving."

"That's all you're going to eat? Where are heading off to in such a rush?"

"I'm meeting Yuri in town." It wasn't a complete lie.

"Alright. Don't stay out too late. We have to get ready for Natsuki and Kenji."

Kazuma grunted before leaving. Natsuki and Kenji's visits were never a surprise to him. Ever since they became a couple, they did everything together. Not like one of those couples that excessively did _everything_ together. They had their boundaries; Kenji was still prude and Natsuki wasn't going to do anything that made him uncomfortable. And since they went to the same school, they got involved in several activities that got them busy enough to miss each other.

Kenji's birthday was coming up, from what Kazuma could recall. Kenji and Natsuki were going to stay the next weekend. Kenji insisted that the Jinnouchi clan didn't have to do anything for him, especially since he wasn't an actual member of the family, but knowing Natsuki, she was planning something anyway. And the whole family was so close to him, of course they would go along with anything Natsuki planned. Kazuma had to make sure he and Yuri didn't show up in time so they wouldn't get caught in the craziness.

Once he was in town, Kazuma didn't know where to look. He asked around, but no one knew where Yuri went and those who did see her couldn't remember where she'd gone off. Then he looked through the shops. The owners never saw any silver-haired girl coming through any of their stores.

Kazuma took a break and went to the Takumura's ice cream shop. Yuri wasn't there but he didn't care at the moment. Today was particularly hot and he needed something to cool him off.

He took a cone of vanilla and ate it as he continued his search.

"_KAZUMAAAA!_" Kazuma slowly turned around when he heard the cry. His cone fell over when he recognized the figure running towards him. Tanya showed off a beaming grin that made him want to go blind.

"What the hell are you doing shouting my name? Everyone's looking."

Tanya shrugged, not really paying attention to the passersby who were looking their way. "I was just going around town trying to get some of the students to sign this." She handed him a piece of paper.

"You're really going through with this OZ club?"

"Yep! So where's Yuri-chan? I want her to sign it."

"I've been looking for her."

"You lost your girlfriend?"

Kazuma glared at her. "I didn't lose her."

"Uh-huh. Anyway, since we're both looking for her, how about we do it together?"

Kazuma began walking away.

"Where are you going?"

"Away from you."

"Hey, don't be like that!" Tanya ran after him.

For the rest of the morning, Kazuma was stuck with Tanya as he was looking for Yuri. As they walked through town, he tried to think of a way to ditch this girl. Tanya wasn't making it easy for him. Through every store, every neighborhood, every place they encountered so far, Tanya glued to his side.

It wasn't until Kazuma saw a bookstore when he found his opportunity. Tanya was so preoccupied getting signatures from a few people he recognized from class. He slipped into the store when he was sure she wasn't paying attention and hid behind a bookcase. He watched, hidden, as Tanya looked about. She ran off, most likely to find him, and he sighed in relief as he came out of his hiding spot.

"Excuse me, young man, but may I help you find something?"

Kazuma found himself in front of a woman about his mom's age. She had a pleasant smile on her face, but she was probably hiding the suspicion of having this teenager in her store.

"Actually, I'm looking for a friend of mine," he explained. "She has white hair and—"

"Oh! You mean Yuri. She's over there in the manga section. She'll help with anything you need." Now that was peculiar. Why was she talking as if Yuri were an employer…?

Kazuma finally connected the dots. A secret job? That was what she was hiding? He wanted to laugh. Yuri was still a _hikikomori_, so it would be hard for her to associate herself with people. Hearing her having a job just seemed so implausible. Why did she even need a job?

"Thank you, ma'am." Kazuma nodded respectfully before heading in the direction she pointed out to him.

A walk around the corner he found his girl restocking some books. She was wearing a sort of uniform—white blouse, navy blue skirt, and her short hair was put up. Kazuma smirked. He had a hilarious idea.

Kazuma inconspicuously grabbed a book from the shelf as he approached his girlfriend. He opened it to hide the view of his face but not so much that he couldn't see where he was going. As he passed her, his hand reached down until they got a good grip…

All of sudden, Kazuma's face was met by the infamous roundhouse kick of Yuri Takane. Kazuma landed on a pile of books that were stacked behind to her. "Damn it!" he cried as he grasped his face. "Again?! _Seriously?!_"

"Kazuma!" Yuri gasped. She set aside the books to help her boyfriend up. "Sorry. You know not to sneak up on me like that, and you especially know not to grab my ass!" Kazuma just grunted indignantly in reply. "I didn't get your eye again, did I?"

"No. Just my jaw." Kazuma rubbed his jaw a bit to make sure it wasn't broken. With Yuri's strength, it was a possibility. He felt his cheek begin to swell but his jaw was just fine. He was glad they were the only people in the store, otherwise that would've been humiliating (not that it already wasn't). "Yuri, why didn't you tell me you had a job?"

She shrugged. "I didn't want anyone to know, really. Your family's already done so much for me."

"… Yuri, you know you don't have to pay us back."

"This isn't for that."

"Well, can you tell me what it is for?"

Yuri thought for a moment. "Just let me get finish my shift and I'll show you later."

"How long will that be?"

"A while." Kazuma groaned. "You can always leave."

Kazuma said nothing as he grabbed a book from the manga section and began to read.

It had been a couple hours, three volumes, and a group of horny teenage (who ran out before they could even touch Yuri as soon as they saw the almighty glare of Kazuma Ikezawa) when Yuri had finally finished her shift. She told Kazuma to wait a bit so she could check out for the day and get her things. As Kazuma waited aside obediently, he spotted something in the corner of his eye.

The OZ symbol popped out so obviously among the thousands of cheat books on the rack. He immediately pulled the book out with such determination he nearly ripped the cover off. He didn't want to believe it was true. Books were misplaced in different sections of this store all the time, for Pete's sake! But when he saw the fine print, he knew it was true.

Someone had created an OZ cheat book.

"What the hell?!" Kazuma began looking at the table of contents. It was a hefty book, most likely filled with much information about the wonderful cyber world. However, all he could find were the characters. Not just any characters. The list mostly comprised of the whole OSTF unit.

He feverishly looked through all the pages. The first few were about the basics of OZ, but then it got to the real hush-hush stuff. There were the workers on the mainframe, like Kenji. Then there was the OSTF. From A to Z, all the officers, including top rankers like Luka, were all listed on their own profile pages. Everything was there, including some of the users' personal information.

He went to his name. There was King Kazma, tall ears and all, standing on the page with such confidence and apathy. At the bottom was his clan's symbol. Kazuma's eyes widened. He quickly went to the back. As expected, Usagi stood there as well, all her information listed on the bottom. He nearly tore the book in half with he saw Yuri's clan symbol at the bottom corner, too. How on earth did these people get a hold of this stuff? Who the hell _were_ these people?

"Kazuma?" His fiery eyes softened when he saw a concerned Yuri next to him. "Why are you so upset?"

"Have you seen this?" he exclaimed.

Yuri took the book from him and her eyes dilated as well when they saw her avatar. "How did…"

"That's exactly what I'd like to know!"

"Don't get so worked up, Kazuma. I bet Kenta knows something about this." She turned to the cover to see the publishers. "Hojo Corp.?"

"Who the hell are they?"

"I don't know. We'll ask Kenta when we get home." Yuri put the book in her bag, which made Kazuma a little skeptical. "Don't worry. My boss usually lets me take a free book as long as I return it."

Just as they were about to head out the door, Kazuma remembered something. "Yuri, wait—!"

In a sudden blur, Yuri was attacked by the big-bosomed, spunky brunette that irritated the hell out of Kazuma. "YURI-CHAN! I've been looking for you everywhere! Let's talk about the OZ club…"

* * *

Kenta Takeuchi rarely ever got mad. He was known among his peers as a very happy man who never had a single bad day in his life. He never even swore. But when Kiko saw the disturbing look on her boss's face, she knew something terrible must've happened. Even Kei could sense something was wrong as she whimpered next to the assistant.

Kenta clenched his jaw. "Well, this is a… unpleasant surprise."

"What's wrong, Kenta? Did something happen on OZ again?"

"Worse."

Kiko, with Kei in tow, went to see what had her boss so upset. In his computer, there was a cover image of a book. The title: _OZ, The Infinite World Cheat Book_. "A cheat for OZ? But it's not a videogame."

"EXACTLY!" Kenta slammed his fists on the keys as he stood abruptly from his desk. "I didn't give anyone the authority to do such a thing, either! I've already checked through all my departments, looked through every one of my employees' files—_none of them_ had _anything_ to do with this!" Kenta took a deep breath and put a hand through his silver hair to calm himself down. Once he sat back down, he calmly scrolled down the page. "But I did eventually find the culprits. Hojo Corporations."

"Hojo Corp.? But… they deal with finance, real estate. This can't be legal."

"That's what I thought. It turns out they're one of our sponsors, so they were allowed to publish the book as an advertisement. It doesn't even have any important codes. Just the basic stuff, and then there's the whole list of maintenance workers and OSTF OZ-ecutives and their personal info. I don't even know how they got this information, but…" Kenta chuckled under his breath. "They used my own damn creation against me." Kei laid her head on his lap to comfort him, and he gladly scratched her ears.

A message alert popped up at the lower right hand corner of the screen. Seeing that her boss was too upset to pay it heed, Kiko pressed on it. "It seems your cousin has something important to discuss with you. I think she discovered a certain cheat book." She pressed on the message, allowing it to be an open screen chat. On the screen appeared Yuri Takane as well as her boyfriend, Kazuma Ikezawa. "Hello, you two."

"Hi, Kiko," said Yuri. "Is Kenta there? We need to talk to him."

"Sir."

Kenta entered got into view immediately. "Yuri, it's really great to see you, but I don't have time at the moment."

"It's about the book, isn't it?"

Kenta sighed. "You catch on quick, Yuri. I'm not surprised you and Kazuma found out about it considering it just got shipped out into stores today. There's nothing you can do at the moment to help me, though."

"Do you know anyone from this Hojo Corp.?" Kazuma asked sternly.

"I'm afraid not. Their business is mainly financial and real estate, but they do sponsor us. That's why so many people run their businesses on OZ."

"Can't you kick them out?"

"No. If I were to do that, other people on OZ would be affected by this. Many people depend on these businesses and I can't just kick them off whenever they do something that upsets me. Not mention there's that hacker we're still trying to find…"

"Let us help."

"I'm thankful for your concern, Kazuma, but I already have my black ops working on that. There's nothing for you to do."

"But—"

"I'm sorry, you guys, but these aren't the kind of jobs for high school kids. That's why I've temporarily suspended the OSTF privileges of the minors."

"Kenta, you can't!"

"I already did, Yuri. Just let us deal with it. It's no problem." Seeing the worried look on his cousin's face, Kenta gave a reassuring smile. "We'll get everything solved eventually. I promise."

Yuri still looked unsure. "Alright, Kenta. But that whole helping family thing applies to you, too. We'll be in touch."

"I know you will." Once Kenta signed off, he leaned back in his chair exasperatingly. "Tell me, Kiko. Am I a fool?"

"No, you're not." Kiko put her arms around him. "You're just a very kind man who's just trying to make the world a better place for everyone."

"But why does it seem like it's not working?"

Kiko couldn't think of a proper answer. "How about you get some rest, Kenta? A good night's sleep will do you good. We can solve these problems tomorrow."

Kenta sighed. "What would I do without you, Kiko?" Before getting out of his chair, Kenta pulled Kiko down so he could plant a kiss on her cheek. He left his office with a boastful smile, leaving his assistant in befuddlement.

* * *

**First updated chapter of the year! I know it took forever, but it's finally done! Lots of drama has already started! Do you think Tanya will be able to start the OZ club at school? Will Kenta be able to stop Hojo Corp from corrupting OZ? Who is this new kid in town? Find out in the next chapter of "Konton"!**

_**R&R!**_


	6. Chapter 5

After the events that happened the weekend before, Kazuma and Yuri weren't very prepared for the following week of school. Their minds were too preoccupied by the occurrences happening on OZ at the moment. And the look on Kenta's face—that was something Yuri could never forget. He looked so distressed and unsure. How was he just going to tell them that they weren't allowed to help? What if he and his OZ-ecutive black Ops couldn't solve the problem? What were they to do then?

They tried not to think about it. It was hard enough that OZ was in another predicament; they didn't want to think that they couldn't rely on anyone to fix the problem.

The week was hard. Neither of the teens was allowed to go on OZ unless they were doing something completely unrelated to the OZ Security Task Force. It was excruciating, especially for Yuri. Kazuma could sympathize. Since joining the online security, he felt it was a part of his life now just as Shaolin Kung Fu was. Even though he hadn't been on the force as long as Yuri had, being apart from it was still unbearable. They couldn't even go to the arena without being reminded. It was either the OSTF or no OZ.

The Friday that came, Tanya approached Kazuma as he was putting his shoes away. "What do you want?" he murmured without looking at her.

"Well, someone's cranky."

Kazuma shot a glare at her. "_Don't_ try me."

"Fine, fine. You and Yuri-chan have been looking really down lately. I just wanted to give you some good news to cheer you up." Kazuma grunted in response. "Do you want to hear it or not?"

"Not really."

"I got enough signatures and the teachers approved of my OZ club! We meet after school today!"

"What?" He couldn't believe it. He thought the teachers would immediately reject her idea.

Kazuma frowned at the smug look on her face. "Still think it's a dumb idea?"

"Yes," he said as he shut his shoe locker, "and I think the teachers are dumbasses."

"Oh, lighten up. I know you're going to join."

Kazuma scoffed as he walked away. "And why's that?"

"Because Yuri already agreed to."

All of a sudden, Kazuma shoved her against the wall. "What the hell do you mean she already agreed to join?! She said she'd think it over!"

"She did, and then she came to me. And she already signed you up because she said you'd join if she joined."

Kazuma wanted to punch something, and it took all the willpower in the world to prevent himself from slugging the girl before him, who continued to smile even as he held her against the wall fiercely. "… What time?" he asked hesitantly.

"Right after school. Don't be late!" Tanya ran off cheerfully as if Kazuma hadn't tried to kill her a second ago. Kazuma rushed off to find his girlfriend.

Once he reached her classroom, he saw her sitting in her usual spot by the window. There were three other students in the room, but thankfully for Kazuma they were minding their own business. He approached Yuri, who didn't expect to see her boyfriend in her classroom.

"Kazuma?"

"You signed me up for Tanya's stupid club?!" Everyone in the room stopped and stared at the couple. Kazuma shot them all a deadly look and they immediately turned back to do what they were doing. "When were you going to tell me?" he said in a quieter tone.

"Today after school," Yuri said sheepishly. Kazuma grunted. "Kazuma, Tanya's club isn't going to be that bad. She told me what she had planned for us and I think you're going to like it."

"I doubt anything Tanya has planned for me is going to be something I'll like."

Yuri smiled. "Trust me. You'll thank me later."

Kazuma still didn't like it, but he listened to Yuri and just anticipated the end of the day to come.

When Kazuma went to his classroom, he saw most of his classmates already seated. He knew a majority of his class feared his teacher. She was a scary-ass lady, but Kazuma wasn't intimidated by her even though he was her least favorite student. She'd always catch him doing something other than what was related to the lesson plan. She almost caught him with his cell phone once, but other than that, she'd just yell at him and resume with the lesson. He had to admit it was kind of fun messing with her.

Everyone was at their seats before the teacher arrived exactly five minutes late. "Sorry I'm late. The teachers had a meeting this morning and we got off track. Now let's get back on it. We have a lot to cover and not much time—"

She was interrupted when another person came in. Kazuma sat up when he recognized the boy he met in town a week ago. He looked as impassive as ever, his dark bangs cast over his dark eyes.

The teacher looked at her clipboard in irritation. "Shi…! I knew there was something I forgot. You're Kenno, right?" The boy nodded briefly. "Class, this is Kenno Minami. He's a transfer from Ikebukuro." Kenno bowed to his classmates. "Kenno, why don't you take a seat next to Kazuma so we can get this class started." Kenno looked over to where he saw the tan boy, who also looked at him indifferently. Kazuma knew Kenno recognized him, even though his face didn't show it.

When Kenno sat down, he nodded to Kazuma. Kazuma nodded back. He was glad he wasn't sitting next to someone irritating.

Throughout the day, Kazuma and the new guy Kenno hung out (hung out as in sitting at their desks not bothering to give anyone the time of day). They gave each other quick, silent exchange of glances throughout the day. Anyone who wasn't familiar with this language wouldn't have understood what they were doing, but between Kazuma and Kenno, it was perfectly clear. By the end of the last class, they were practically best friends.

When the last class was finally over and done with, Kazuma nodded a bye to Kenno and headed out to meet Yuri.

He saw her outside the classroom. "So, where is this club being held?" he asked immediately.

"Room 4B."

"That's the room next to the teacher's lounge. Why did she choose that place? The teachers will know what we're doing. And aren't we supposed to have some kind of supervisor? Who on Earth is going to volunteer to supervise the OZ club?"

"You have so many doubts, Kazuma."

"Well, no _shit_ I have doubts! Tanya is _insane!_" Yuri ignored him for the rest of the walk.

When they arrived at Room 4B, the couple stood in front of the door, a little unsure. "It doesn't sound like anyone's in there," Yuri said. "Maybe Tanya gave me the wrong room…"

"No club? Aw, that's too bad." Kazuma didn't even try to sound disappointed. "Alright, let's go."

As Kazuma turned around, he heard the door open. "Yuri-chan! Kazuma! You made it!"

Kazuma sighed. "Damn."

"Come in!"

Yuri pulled Kazuma along as he groaned in frustration. "Stop that," she scolded him. Kazuma grunted childishly.

When they were in the classroom, Kazuma looked around, surprised at the amount of people who showed up. There weren't many, but it was still more than Kazuma thought would join this club (which was only three people: Tanya, Yuri, and himself). Of course there was Tanya, who was sitting on a desk with her legs crossed, smiling. Then there were two other guys. One was a strawberry blonde with a mischievous grin. In fact, his smirk was very unsavory to Kazuma, especially since the guy was looking at Yuri. Kazuma blocked his view to look at the other guy. He looked exactly like the other guy except he had light brown hair and he looked more reserved and less impish. Kazuma assumed they were twins.

"Is this all of us?" Kazuma asked blankly. "I have to admit, there's a lot of more people than I thought would show up, but it seems just as small and insignificant as having three people."

"What'd you say, pretty boy?" the mischievous blonde said. Kazuma narrowed his eyes. It wasn't much of a comeback, but it still got his attention.

"Calm down, you two," Tanya said. "We're still waiting for one more."

"Who?"

Kazuma got his answer as it came through the door. The woman, he assumed, was their club moderator. Her blouse was unruly and unbuttoned, which amused two-thirds of the boys in the room, and her auburn hair—Kazuma recalled it originally in a neat bun—fell disheveled over her shoulders.

"Now that we're all here, I'll introduce everybody. First there are you two, Kazuma Ikezawa and Yuri Takane." Tanya pointed to the two blondes. "Then there's Jiro and Junko Yamaguchi. They're twins, obviously. They're my friends from Higashi High School."

"Friends?" Kazuma echoed.

"You got a problem with that," said Jiro.

Tanya glared at him and he begrudgingly shut up. "And lastly there's—"

"Mrs. Kato," Kazuma muttered.

The older woman smirked. "That's right, Kazuma." She smirked at him. "But here—and _only_ here—you can call me Chika." She looked over at the white-haired girl next to him. "Is this your girlfriend?" Kazuma said nothing as he continued to glare at his homeroom teacher. "So this is the girl you've been texting during my class. She's quite a cutie." Kazuma blushed in embarrassment, and Yuri hid further behind him as the couple became the center of attention.

Kazuma was getting agitated. He knew this club was going to be a bad idea; not only were most of the members already getting on his nerves, but they were also making Yuri uncomfortable. He couldn't touch his teacher, but the blonde boy from before was pervious. And his fists had been itching to hit somebody all day.

Tanya, sensing the tension in the room, spoke up, "Okay, okay. This is supposed to be a safe space. Let's all just get along." Tanya jumped off the table and stood akimbo. "Now that everyone's introduced, let's get down to business."

Suddenly, Tanya's face was no longer filled with its usual flippancy. She was full-out serious. Kazuma could never imagine Tanya looking so stern, but it really had an effect on the other people in the room. Even Yuri didn't look so frightened anymore. He gave her an inquisitive look, and she gave him one that told him to watch and listen. Everyone else seemed to be aware of what was happening except for him, which made him curious.

"As you're all aware of, OZ is in another pickle. Some hacker's messing with the arcade games and the CEO has temporarily suspended the privileges of OZ-ecutives of the OZ Security Task Force. I don't know about you guys, but I'm not just going to sit around while the maintenance and black Ops do what we were meant to do. That's why I gathered you all here because I know you feel the same."

Kazuma looked around the room. All of these people were members of the OSTF? It seemed unlikely, but who was he to judge?

"The OZ club was formed to create an elite team of adept OZ avatars, and I picked the best of the best. And with all your help, we're going to stop this menace before it becomes another AI incident. Now state your names and status!"

The blonde twin stepped up first. "Jiro Yamaguchi; OZ-ecutive member, Vinnie!"

Kazuma did a double take. "No way…"

"Junko Yamaguchi; OZ-ecutive member, Giuseppe!"

"This is not happening." Kazuma wasn't the only one who found it hard to believe these guys were the Italian duo. They didn't even look Italian, yet online, they made so many foreign references; they even spoke Italian! But it did explain why they argued constantly. Even though they were twins, they were polar opposites. So if these two were together…

Kazuma looked over at Chika. "You're not someone by the name of Unknown, are you?"

She gave him a dubious look. "No," she said slowly. "My avatar is Cho."

It was Kazuma's turn to look clueless. "I don't even know who that is."

"You wouldn't. I'm a part of the black ops."

Everyone stared at the teacher.

Kazuma looked at Tanya. "Is she serious?"

"Yes, she is. It's obvious that the CEO of the OZ Corporation isn't going to tell us what's going on and the black ops are untouchable. When she found out about my club idea, Chika immediately volunteered to be our 'supervisor'. She was the only member willing to help us, which makes her one of the most valuable assets to our team.

"Speaking of valuable assets, I'll go next." Tanya turned to the crowd and saluted saying, "Tanya Orlov; second in command of the OSTF, Luka!" Kazuma and Yuri exchanged glances. That wasn't much of a surprise.

Tanya looked at them. "You're next."

Kazuma looked down at Yuri. Neither of them wanted to go, but the group wouldn't stop staring at them until they said something.

Surprisingly, Yuri decided to go next. At first, when she stepped forward she stopped reluctantly and clutched her shirt. Kazuma put a hand on her back. "It's okay," he whispered so only she could hear. She nodded sheepishly and went to stand in front of the group.

Kazuma watched in awe as his girlfriend suddenly stood erect, little trace of inhibition on her face. "Yuri Takane; OZ commissioner Usagi."

Kazuma smirked when he saw the shocked looks on the others' faces. They obviously didn't expect this timid girl to be the commissioner of the OSTF, and having her as his girlfriend made him feel a little more boastful.

Jiro laughed. "You're telling me this little _doll_ is the commissioner of the OZ Security Task Force?"

Kazuma scowled. "What's it to you?" he retorted. "You're nothing more than a mongrel in a suit."

This time, Jiro walked up to the tan boy until they were face-to-face. "You want to say that again, pretty boy?"

"You have no idea who you're dealing with."

"Oh yeah? Let me guess. You're a teeny, tiny bunny-rabbit?"

Yuri looked between Kazuma and Jiro. That was a surprisingly close guess. "Actually," Kazuma said. "I'm a big rabbit. A really, _really_, big rabbit. In fact, compared to you, I'm the King."

Suddenly, Jiro's face was filled with fear. It was Yuri's turn to smirk with pride.

"N-No way. You're not…"

"That's right, Jiro," Tanya said. "You're dealing with King Kazma."

* * *

After the meeting, Kazuma and Yuri immediately went home. Even though this day went by like a blur, he never felt so exhausted. At least Yuri didn't have to go to work that day.

That OZ club was not what he had expected. He thought it was just going to be a bunch of nobodies who had a lot of time on their hands (Kazuma thought Jiro was close enough), but it was actually an impressive group. Who knew Tanya had so many connections on OZ? The people he was closest with on OZ were Natsuki and Kenji, Yuri, and Luka, but he only knew Luka was a girl. It wasn't much of a shock when he discovered Luka was Tanya after that serious face she put on today, but on a normal day, it would've been hard to believe that that zany girl played the part of a ferocious Siberian tiger.

"I told you you'd like it," Yuri bragged. "And now I'm waiting for my thank you."

Kazuma put his arm around his shoulder and kissed her temple. "That wasn't a thank you. I just felt like doing it."

"Mm-hm. Whatever you say, _King Kazma_."

As soon as they got home, the teens went into Kazuma's room and logged on to OZ. Before the meeting had dispersed, Tanya had asked all members to think of an official name for their elite group. Of course Kazuma wasn't going to even consider it; "the OZ club" was an inconspicuous, not to mention mundane, name, so no one, not even Kenta, would realize their actual goal. And it wasn't like they were going to let the rest of the OZ universe know that they existed.

But Yuri was right. Kazuma was glad, in a way, that she had forced him to join. However, he wasn't as fervent about it as she was. She made a great first impression on the group, and Jiro immediately backed off when he realized that "King Kazma" was dating the commissioner of the OSTF. So while she was on OZ, Yuri spent a majority of her time in her Home thinking of a better name for the OZ club.

"Don't waste your time, Yuri," Kazuma said. "It's just a name. No one's even supposed to know we exist."

"I know." She paused for a moment. "But if we really are able to get to the bottom of this hacker and the Hojo corp. thing, then our group should have an honorable name that everyone will remember."

Kazuma resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "That's like a bunch of—"

"Don't say it," Yuri warned with a glare.

A sudden knock on the door thankfully dispersed the tension. "Kids, it's me!" Kazuma was glad for once that his mom came to break up whatever they were doing. "Don't worry, I'm not coming in. I just need to borrow Yuri for a sec. Do you think you can help me with something in the kitchen?"

"Sure!" Yuri whacked the back of Kazuma's head before leaving the room.

Kazuma sighed as he went back to work. Yuri could be violent whenever she was annoyed. Never had he ever been so grateful for his mother's intrusions. Now that both Yuri and his mother were gone, he could do his thing on OZ in peace.

**O.O**

Now if there was anything that King Kazma despised the most, it was stalkers.

The same people who were offering this "deal of a lifetime" wouldn't leave him alone, and this proved true as soon as he logged on. He had 160 new messages, all from the same people, same message:

_**We want YOU!**_

When he deleted the messages, another one popped up. "Why?" Kazma said. "Why do you want me?"

"Isn't obvious, King Kazma?"

Behind him were three guys in suits and bowler hats. They didn't have heads or faces or anything that could show expression. The guy in the middle was wearing shades. "We want you because you're one of the most powerful avatars in OZ."

"Okay, who the hell are you guys and why should I have anything to do with you?"

The three thugs in suits looked at each other (Kazuma couldn't tell since they didn't have faces) before the ringleader answered him again. "We're from Hojo Corporations."

"What?!" Kazuma immediately flew at them, his fists ready to taste some action. They all avoided him. "You bastards! You're ruining everything! Why the hell do you want to wreck OZ? Don't you remember what happened three years ago?!"

"Of course, but we don't want to destroy the world. We just want to send our friend Kenta Takeuchi a message."

"… What kind of message?" Kazuma asked charily.

"That's where you come in. If you help us, you'll get many benefits."

"I don't want anything you're offering, thanks. Just leave me out of this."

The suits looked at each other again. Their ringleader held out a suitcase. When it opened up, a picture of a familiar foe showed up. "You remember him, don't you, King Kazma?"

The rabbit king growled as soon as he set his eyes on that picture. The AI, Love Machine, was not something he wanted to relive. But he had a feeling these guys were going to let it happen. "What have you done?"

"This is the Love Machine 2.0, King Kazma, the same AI you defeated three years ago only better. As we speak, this same AI is wreaking havoc in the casinos and arcades, but those are just the start. Just do as we say and I promise we won't afflict too much damage on OZ. And I'm sure there are a few people in OZ you wouldn't want to put into jeopardy, right?"

"Why you little…!" King Kazma lunged at them again, but just as his fist was about to meet the ringleader's face it stopped short. Kazma couldn't move. "What the…! What the hell did you do to me?!"

"Do we have a deal, King Kazma?"

Kazma scowled at them. If he could break out of his stagnation, he'd kick their asses right now, but he knew he couldn't. And if he wanted to keep his friends and family safe, he had no choice but to submit to these suits, for the time being. "… Fine, we have a deal."

"Excellent." Abruptly, the rabbit king was allowed to move once again. "Meet us tomorrow at the arena. And this meeting is classified, so if you tell anyone, OZ is as good as gone."

Suits disappeared in a flash, leaving the King alone in trepidation. "What have I done?"

* * *

**I know I haven't updated in a while, but I've been really busy, plus writer's block doesn't help much, either. I hope this chapter pleased you for the moment. Until next time…**

_**R&R!**_


	7. Chapter 6

As he promised, Kazuma didn't tell anyone about the deal he made with those Hojo corp. "Suits". The ringleader, which he now referred to as "Bosu", was ruthless. He had no idea how that guy was able to freeze his body like that, but he had to figure a way around it. He couldn't work for those guys, he just _couldn't_. But as he looked at his girlfriend from across the room, he knew he had to in order to keep her and his family safe, even if it killed him on the inside.

"Okay, people. It's now or never," Tanya said. "Is everybody ready?" The OZ club had come together the following weekend to start day one of their infiltration. Tanya's plan was for them to sneak into the arcade so they could find the hacker. Little did the rest of the group know that their hacker was actually an AI.

Kazuma _really_ wanted to punch something at the moment.

"We're ready over here!" Junko said.

"Ready," said Chika.

Yuri gave Tanya a thumbs up. She was at the main computer since she was the commissioner. She and Tanya would be leading the others together. "Then let's go! OZ-ecutives, sign in!"

Kazuma watched everyone as they logged in and positioned themselves at the perimeter of the arcade. Kazuma looked at his hands as they hung over the keyboard. He looked over at Yuri, who gave him a soft smile. With a heavy sigh, the rabbit king signed on to join his comrades in OZ.

**...**

The first thing King Kazma noticed when he logged on to OZ was his new getup. Instead of his regular plump red vest jacket, the white rabbit was wearing a black leather vest that obviously used to be a jacket because of the torn hems where the sleeves used to be. He had a pair of shades on his face, which didn't bother him much. His blonde hair was gone, back to its usual white scruffiness before he became King Kazma 2.0. Around his wrists were spiked bracelets that also looked really wicked. And his white sneakers were replaced with black unlaced combat boots.

He knew these upgrades were a little "present" from the Suits for his subordination. He couldn't deny it was a sweet look, but he couldn't meet the others looking like this. It was extremely suspicious, especially since everyone knew he didn't change his look unless it was necessary (which it never was). He went to his closet to change, but his old outfit wasn't there. In fact, his whole closet was stuffed with these new ensembles. "Damn those Suits…" King Kazma sighed as he went to meet his team.

When he arrived at the arcade, he saw that everyone was already there, except for Cho, who was planning to work on the inside so they could get in with ease. When they saw their late comrade, they all gawked.

"Nice look, Kazma!" Vinnie said. "What happened to your hair?"

"Shut up," Kazma quipped.

"And what happened to your old clothes?" Usagi asked.

"Well… I've had these clothes for a while, and I thought today would be the perfect opportunity to try them out for, you know, reconnaissance…?"

"Won't people recognize you, anyway?" Luka pointed out.

"… Shut up."

A message from Cho appeared. _**The perimeter is clear.**_

"Alright, everyone," Usagi said. "Let's move in."

Vinnie cracked his knuckles. "This is going to be a piece of cake."

"Don't do anything reckless," Giuseppe warned him.

"Stop treating me like a little kid!"

"I wouldn't treat you like one if you didn't act like one."

"Well… shut up! _I'm_ the older twin!"

Kazma snickered. "_You're_ the older one?"

"Yeah," Vinnie growled.

"But you're name's Jiro*," Tanya pointed out.

"So what?"

"Everyone, stop talking!" Usagi hissed. "The only person who should be seeing our speech bubbles is Cho. We don't need to be shouting at each other and letting the rest of the black ops know we're here." Usagi turned away and began sending Cho a private message.

"There's no need, Usagi."

Behind them entered a young woman with iridescent pixie-like wings. Her hair was short and periwinkle with a pair of thin antennae sticking out of her head. Her eyes were covered by some kind of a blindfold; the black fabric was abbreviated O.B.O. Everything about her was colorful, except for her outfit, which was purely black. The guys (except Kazma) couldn't take their eyes away.

"Chika?" Kazuma said.

"Cho," she corrected him. "There are three other guards inside the casino. It'd be best if we split up into groups. There are other passages in the arcade that reach to the _Konton_ game. Once you get there, there will be three more guards securing the entrance to the game. There will be more inside trying to find the hacker. Unfortunately, I can't help you once you get to the entrance. We can't have the black ops knowing there's someone on the inside helping you guys."

"Alright then." Usagi faced the group. "Luka, you'll be with Giuseppe. Vinnie's with me. And Kazma, you'll be with Cho. Let's meet in three."

The group quickly went their separate ways. When Kazma and Cho were left alone, she smirked. "What's with the new look?"

"Shut up."

Kazuma would've preferred going with Usagi (or have someone else accompany her besides Vinnie, the pervert), but Cho wasn't bad company. She was very professional, which was no surprise since she was a high school teacher on the side, but she seemed to fit in this virtual environment better than the classroom. She must've had high connections in order to become part of the black ops.

"So… what's your deal?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"You're part of an elite security team for the most popular online world, yet you're working as a high school teacher. What's up with that?"

Cho said nothing. Kazma decided not to ask any further. It wasn't the first time someone denied him information he wanted. It was stupid to think his teacher would tell him anything about her personal life.

"Wait." She pulled him against the wall when they were at the intersection. They were in the middle of the shopping district. One of the guards Cho mentioned was standing guard. "Wait here." She flew up to the guard. In a short minute, the guard left.

Kazma flew up to her in astonishment. "What did you say to him?"

"I told him it was time to switch shifts. I can't go on with you. The others should've distracted the other guards by now. Go before you get caught."

Kazma nodded and left.

When he got to the arcade, he found Usagi and Vinnie waiting. It looked like they had gotten alone well, except for the fact that now Vinnie had a black eye. Luka and Giuseppe came in shortly after. "Okay, we're all here," Vinnie said. "So what the hell are we waiting for?"

"We don't know what we'll meet once we go in," Usagi said. "Someone needs to go in and check it out."

"I volunteer Giuseppe!"

Usagi punched him. "Shut up, Vinnie. We don't have time to screw around. I'll go in. Everybody, wait three seconds before following." She went in and they did as they were told. Three seconds later, they joined her inside.

The game background was normal. Too normal. It looked like the streets of Ueda, which was peculiar. Why Ueda? Kazma thought. But there was no time to find out why. They had to find this hacker and try to destroy it without getting into trouble, but if they were able to get rid of it, he doubted they'd get into much trouble. Unless the team found out he was working for the people who set this hacker loose in OZ in the first place.

"Let's split up again, no teams this time."

The group agreed and went their separate ways once again.

As soon as they were gone, Kazma got a message from the Suits.

_**Get ready to meet your partner, King Kazma.**_

"Partner?" They didn't mention anything about that. Of course, they failed to tell him many things.

He waited for some time before a looming figure came up behind him. He turned and instinct kicked in. He immediately flew at stranger and kicked his side. He was swept off his feet and pushed against the wall. He waited to get hit, but nothing happened. Love Machine just stood there with that creepy grin on his face.

This new AI, Love Machine 2.0, had only one physical change compared to the original. He was still huge, creepy to look at, but his body was covered completely in a black cloak. For some weird reason, he didn't want to be seen, but that was pointless since anyone would be able to spot the AI from a mile away. Kazma just hoped no one would see _him_ with the big guy.

"So, _you're_ my partner." The AI did nothing but nod. "So, what exactly are we supposed to be doing?" Love Machine just stared at him. "If only you could talk."

Suddenly, the AI took something out of his cloak. It opened up into a letter. "'King Kazma,'" he read, "'You've probably already discovered the upgrades we gave you. I'm sorry we failed to inform of you mission before. We forgot to consider that the AI still hadn't developed a way of communicating with other avatars.'" Kazma grunted in irritation before continuing, "'This is your first mission: we need you to break out Love Machine 2.0. He's not able to get out of the game on his own. Be quick about it.'

"Yeah, easier said than done," he muttered to himself. When he was done reading the message, Love Machine crushed it in his palm. "So, you can't get out of the game, huh?" The AI tilted his head. "You know, I'd be doing everyone a big favor by finishing you off now. After all, you are the hacker that's been causing all the trouble. But…" Kazma thought of Usagi and his team. He _would_ be doing them a favor, and they'd be able to get out of the arcade before anyone noticed. But the Suits were probably using the AI as a spy, and he couldn't do anything without them finding out, in the OZ world or the real world, and he couldn't risk it. He crossed his arms angrily. "Let's get this **** thing over with."

Love Machine flew off to one of the buildings and began jumping from rooftop to rooftop. "Wait a minute!" Kazma quickly ran off to catch up with him. When the AI stopped, Kazma bumped into him. "Are you crazy?! Someone will see you if you just jump around like that!" Love Machine just looked at him. Suddenly, his cloak took form and enveloped him until the AI was completely covered in black. His form changed shape until he was as tall as King Kazma. He was dressed like the black ops. "Whoa…"

This new trick was convenient, but that only gave him more problems. If he could change his form to look like another avatar, then no one would be able to stop him. But then Kazma noticed the symbol on his forehead.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" A real black ops showed up. He was German. "Wait, aren't you King Kazma?"

"Uh…" Love Machine was already making a run for it.

"Hey! Where are you going? Arrest him!" Kazma didn't wait for another opportunity. He ran for his life. "Hey! I need back up…!"

He didn't look back. He was screwed either way. Not only that, but he had blown everyone's cover. With him here, they'd no doubt be looking for more interlopers.

All of a sudden, Kazma ran into someone familiar. Usagi glared at him. "What the ****?!"

He rubbed his head. "Sorry. I was just following…" He hesitated. He couldn't tell her, but he had to...

"Who's that?" Kazma almost swore. Love Machine was on the rooftop just above them. His actions would be erratic.

"There they are! The hackers!" Kazma wanted to lie under a rock. The situation could not possibly get any worse.

"****!" Usagi swore. "We have to find the others and get out now!"

Suddenly, LM2 jumped off the roof. From the way he was aimed, it looked like he was trying to land on…

"Look out!" Kazma pushed Usagi out of the way before the AI had a chance to touch her. A giant crater was formed where she used to be. The black ops looked like they were about to piss their pants. "Run!"

The agents didn't even move as Kazma and Usagi ran past them. The AI gave chase and began running after them. "What the **** is that thing, and why is it attacking me?"

Kazma wished he could answer that. Maybe the AI thought Usagi was a threat of some kind. If that was the case, they needed to get to the others and leave ASAP.

Luckily for them, Vinnie and Giuseppe were bickering just around the corner. As soon as they ran into the Italian duo, Usagi quickly warned them and continued running on. Shortly after, they found the exit, and Luka and Chika were there to meet them. "What's going on?" the black ops agent asked. "There was an alert that was sent out to the black ops agents."

"Let's just say we found the hacker," Usagi said.

Said hacker appeared right before them. The symbol on his forehead made him stand out among the other black ops, and it seemed Love Machine had no use for the disguise now. He was in his full form with his cloak still draped over his broad, stern shoulders. Everyone (except Kazma, once again) gawked at the AI.

"Is that… Love Machine?"

Cho cursed. "Love Machine 2.0 is more like it. I was afraid this would be the case. We've had several reports of some hacker named 'LM2' was behind this. This must be him." She quickly began calling for backup, gesturing the others to leave.

The AI stared at all of them under his gaze rested on King Kazma and Usagi. Before they could move, Love Machine shot out a whip and grabbed Usagi, slamming her against one of the buildings.

"Bastard!" Vinnie pulled his UZ and began shooting at the AI, who simultaneously conjured a shield. Whatever upgrades the Suits put on Love Machine were truly kick-ass, Kazma thought, which made this whole endeavor an even bigger challenge and a bigger problem for OZ.

Luka growled. "Giuseppe, on my mark!"

"Got it!" The samurai pulled out his katana and, with the fierce tiger, flew at the AI.

Nothing they threw at him was working. Kazma just watched as they all failed to get to Love Machine. He didn't know what to do. If he fought against Love Machine, the Suits would find out, but if he didn't help his friends, not only would they be suspicious, but they would also be terminated. They couldn't win; they needed to leave, _now_.

In one final blow, Love Machine sent all of his friends back to the entrance. Cho put up a shield of fire. "You all need to go, _now!_"

"We're on it!" Luka, who was now carrying the immobile Usagi, went through the exit, followed by the Italian duo.

Kazma was still standing there in a tizzy. "Kazma, get your ass out of here!" Cho shot a ball of fire at him. He dodged with ease, and it was enough to make him get out of his stupor. But before he went through the exit, he watched as Love Machine slowly flew away, knowing that his prey had gotten away.

**...**

"What the hell was that?!" Jiro cried. He immediately kicked his chair away and grabbed Kazuma shirt. "What the hell did you think you were doing?! We almost got caught because of you!"

"It's not my fault!"

"Then whose fault is it because I don't remember anybody else just standing around while the rest of us got to the shit beat out of us! What the hell were you thinking?!"

"Jiro!" Tanya cried.

Kazuma scowled. "Shut up! You don't know anything!"

"Knock it off, you two!" Chika said. She pulled the boys away before they could get a real brawl started. "As your supervisor, I will _not_ allow violence to break out unless it is in the virtual world! This school doesn't have enough money to afford new computers, so I suggest one of you leave."

"Good idea," Kazuma spat. "I'll go."

Yuri stood. "Kazuma…"

"I think that's a good idea," Tanya spoke up. "It's about time we ended this meeting, anyway. It won't be long till the CEO finds out what we did. Let's all just go home and rest so we can get ready for tomorrow. Club dismissed."

Kazuma had already left the room. He couldn't stand being in there anymore. It wasn't just Jiro. He saw the looks on everybody's faces. They were suspicious of him, too. Even Yuri was skeptical. He didn't like the thought of her not being able to trust him. But he couldn't blame her. He lied to her. He lied to all their faces. One day on that stupid job and things were already starting to get worse rather than better.

He couldn't take it anymore. Between the Suits, the new Love Machine, and this guilt—it was just too much for Kazuma to bear. "Damn it!" Halfway to his house, he punched a fence. His fist went straight through the aged wood.

"You know you're going to have to pay for that."

Kazuma didn't bother to address his teacher. "I don't care." He pulled his fist out of the fence. He looked at the splinters lodged in his skin. Blood was dripping slowly out of the wounds. "Did you come here to yell at me some more? I'm sure you have plenty to say to me."

"I came to have a calm discussion with you, Kazuma."

He scoffed. "There's a first time for everything."

Chika calmly walked over to her student. "Come with me." Kazuma said nothing and followed his teacher. She took him to a modern Western house. It was nice, but not compared to his family's estate. "Wait here." Chika went inside. Kazuma sat on the veranda and stared at his hand as he waited. The pain didn't register until he started moving it. He clenched his fist, feeling each splinter as they shifted in his skin. They stung like hell, but having them lodged in his fist was the only thing keeping him calm. Moving only made them sunk further.

Chika came back out with a first aid kit. "I'm guessing this is where you live," Kazuma said to break the tension. He slickly added, "Isn't it kind of scandalous to bring a student to your house?"

"Shut up and give me your hand." Chika took it without waiting and began picking out the splinters tenderly.

"So, you wanted to talk."

"Give me a minute. You'd rather I yank these out?" Kazuma said nothing. "I promised your little girlfriend I'd talk to you. She said something about an after school job and she'd let you cool off first." He couldn't help grinning a little. It was so like Yuri to be understanding even when he was being a jackass. "Unfortunately for you, I'm not that patient."

"Ow!"

"Sorry… You haven't been acting like yourself all week, Kazuma. You were so distant during class, more so than usual, and then when we were in the arcade, you just… zoned out. You want to tell me what's going on?" The stubborn teen looked away. "Fine. To be fair, I'll answer your question.

"Before I was a high school teacher, I worked for OZ. I was a game designer; I'm part of the reason OZ has an arcade and casino. When Love Machine came along, the company formed a black ops team to prevent the same incident from happening again, which formed into the lesser OZ Security Task Force. Then the hacker showed up, the CEO asked me to become a part of the black ops again. I couldn't say no. OZ had become a part of my life and so many others. And when I heard someone was messing with one of our games, I was obligated to help."

"Wait a minute…!" Kazuma winced. Chika had already pulled out all the splinters, and now blood was freely flowing from his hand. The light breeze made it worse. "You worked for OZ, and then you just became a minimum wage high school teacher?"

"Yes," she said as she began cleaning his hand. "Believe or not, I enjoy being around kids your age. You may irritate the crap at me sometimes, but it's very rewarding in the end.

Kazuma bit his lip as he alcohol stung wounds. "W-What made you quit?"

"Well, there's more to life than OZ. Ironically, I met my husband through OZ. He works more inside the business, though. It was nice, working side-by-side, but after a while, it became a drag. Our life became just OZ, and we didn't want that, so I decided to quit."

"And your husband?"

"With the money he's earning, why would he?" Kazuma gave her that one. "But that's beside the point. The point is, we couldn't have our lives surrounded by something that wasn't real. Now I have a job I enjoy, he has a job that he enjoys, and we can enjoy our real lives without having to depend on OZ all the time." Kazuma never thought about it that way. His life had all about OZ; he could never imagine ever getting _bored_ with it like Chika and her husband, especially if he was in her husband's position. Then again, he didn't know what the future had in store for him.

"Now, you want to tell me why you've been acting so weird?"

When Chika finished dressing his wound, Kazuma cradled his hand gently. "I… I can't tell you. I can't tell anyone." She raised her eyebrow at that. "If I told anyone… I would never forgive myself, and neither would anyone else…"

Chika frowned. "Kazuma, I don't know much about your girlfriend, but after the little chat we had, I'd say she's your kind of girl. Despite your short temper, she's patient, she's shy, which really goes well with the detachment you show graciously during class, and she was completely understanding, even after you ran off. And if your family loves you, I'm sure they'd be just as indulgent, don't you think?"

Kazuma looked away from his teacher. It seemed easier to doubt himself, but apparently he had only been doubting his trust in his family and Yuri. He didn't like lying to them, but could they _really_ forgive him for what he did (or, at least, what he attempted to do)?

"… I'm not sure. This is… something else."

"Well, at least think about it a little more." The older woman patted his back encouragingly before standing up. "Now get out of here. I have to make dinner and my husband will be here in a little bit." She smiled at him. "You know, you can always talk to me if you can't go to anyone else."

Kazuma scoffed. "Yeah, right." He rubbed his injured hand subconsciously. "I'll see ya tomorrow."

"Bye, Kazuma."

As he made his way back home, Kazuma thought about his options: tell and quit his job with the Suits; not tell and continue working for the Suits; or run away from it all and move to Ikebukuro and live a life of crime fighting. The ultimate latter was unlikely, making his options limited. But there was one thing he knew for sure:

He loved his family too much to make them suffer for his stupid decisions.

And Yuri…

"Kazuma, are you okay?" A few yards away, Kazuma spotted his girlfriend standing there waiting for him. As soon as he saw her, he went up to her and hugged her. "K-Kazuma?"

"I'm fine, Yuri." He let go of her and took her hand. "Let's go home."

When they got back, Kazuma knew what he had to do. He needed to contact a certain five-tailed fox. He knew "Kei" would be busy due to this LM2 incident, but he also knew the CEO would eventually reply.

_**Hey, it's Kazuma. I need your help.**_

But he had to keep this confidential. No doubt Kenta would want to tell Yuri, but he had to make sure that wouldn't happen. He'd still be lying, but at least he'd feel better about it. And in the end, he would be able to tell the truth. It was only a matter of time.

* * *

**Jiro - second son (in case you were wondering)**

**Itto - "it" (I forgot to put a definition in the prologue. The translation was probably really obvious, though.)**

_**R&R!**_


	8. Chapter 7

Kazuma decided to follow Chika's example and took a break from OZ. He hadn't gotten a reply from Kenta yet, and until he did, he wanted nothing to do with the Suits or the OZ club. He still hadn't told anyone anything, but it was only a matter of time before he cracked. But he wasn't going to let that happen until he fixed everything.

Unfortunately, he was about to learn the consequences of his actions.

A few weeks passed after he commenced his plan. A few days after he started, he was very itchy to log onto a computer. He needed something to distract him from the urge, so with less OZ came more training. From that day on, Kazuma practiced his Shaolin Kung fu day in and day out, and when he wasn't doing that, he was doing homework.

Kazuma never thought his life would stoop this low.

A few days later, the members of the OZ club became very suspicious of his unusual behavior. The Yamaguchi twins were the least troublesome. It was mostly Jiro coming up to him to try and beat the truth out of him while Junko pried him off for next time, so Kazuma had no trouble dealing with them after a while. Tanya was the only one he had to worry about. Since the moment they first met, she had been a real pain in the ass. After quitting the OZ club, she was much worse. She was as direct as Jiro, except she had some moves. It took him a while to find a schedule that helped him avoid Tanya whenever possible. As for Chika—or Mrs. Kato for this instance—she just gave him weird glances during class. He already knew what she was thinking.

The Suits hadn't been hassling him like he thought they would. With their unorthodox methods of intrusion, he would've figured they would have some way of finding out what he was doing, where he was, and stuff like that, but there was no indication that they planned on doing anything to him.

He was surprised Yuri hadn't said anything to him. He expected her to be the first to confront him about his weird behavior but she was really backing off, and he didn't like it. He'd rather have _her_ trying to get the truth out of him than have her avoiding him, which she had being for the past three weeks. It made him feel worse for lying to her. Maybe that was her plan.

The only person who wasn't giving him a hard time was Kenno Minami. They had their silent conversations during class as usual, which helped ease the stress. Kenno seemed more understanding about his problems than everyone else. Even though he never said a word, his "input" was also a bit more helpful in a way. And since he couldn't talk to Yuri, this was the better solution.

At the end of the day, Kazuma said bye to Kenno and began making his way out of the classroom. But before he could reach the door, someone blocked his way. He was surprised to see it was Yuri. She looked so impassive. "We need to talk."

"Uh, sure, I guess."

She took him up into the OZ clubroom where they could talk in private. Kazuma thought the hallway would be fine, but he knew she was trying to prove a point. All of a sudden, Yuri slapped him. He held his cheek in shock. Usually whenever she hit him, it was an accident, but he had never seen her so furious before. "Yuri…"

"You're an idiot, you know that?! What the hell is going on with you?! You haven't shown up to a single OZ meeting! Not mention the nonstop training sessions! Why aren't you telling me anything?"

"You wouldn't understand," he said calmly.

"Of course I wouldn't!" Yuri stopped and took a deep breath. "Kazuma, you used to tell it's okay to be open with people. You're the first person I told about my parents' deaths. You were the first shoulder I cried on since that incident. Now it's your turn. And we're alone, just like that time on the veranda. You can tell me anything."

He bit his lip. "I'm not sure that's true."

"Why not?"

He looked away shamefully. "You'd never forgive me."

Yuri put a hand on his cheek and turned his head so he'd look back at her. "You don't really think that, do you?"

"Yes, I do." Kazuma took her hand off his cheek. "I messed up, Yuri. I messed up bad. You have no idea…"

Yuri frowned sadly. Kazuma actually looked afraid. The only time she'd seen him like that was when she was about to go to Nagoya with Takashi. Whatever he did, whatever was going to make her mad, he was truly sorry for it. "Would it make you feel better if I just forgave you? I know you're sorry for… whatever you did, Kazuma. I just wish you'd tell me what it is. I've been so worried about you. You've been acting weird lately, and I don't think you've even been on OZ once since the last meeting you went to. I just want to know if everything's okay."

Kazuma took her hands. "Everything will be," he said. "I'm fine, I promise. I'll tell you, when I'm ready. I just need time to think."

Yuri took his word for it. He was yet to tell her what exactly was going on, but she knew he knew what he was doing. "Good. I have to go to work now. I'll see you later." He could tell by her tone that she wasn't done with him yet.

As he watched her walk out the door, Kazuma wanted nothing more than to kiss her right now. The last time they had any time alone together was before all this craziness happened. Before the Suits and LM2, before the OZ club, before Yuri's job—he knew nothing would be the same once they started school. And thinking about the lack of intimacy they'd been having only made him feel worse.

Man, did he want to punch something right now.

As soon as he got home, he dumped all his stuff in his room and went out to the yard to workout. The sky was turning from light yellow to orange, and the sun was beginning to set. But Kazuma didn't stop, even after Yuri came home. By the time the sun disappeared, his mother came out. "Kazuma, it's late. You need to get inside."

He held his stance, his leg sticking out in the air. "Just a minute."

"You said that an hour ago."

"I'm not done," he replied gruffly as he continued to kick the air.

Kiyomi sighed as she made her way over to her son. "Kazuma, stop training for a moment and sit down." She grabbed his ear for emphasis.

"OW! OW! OW! Okay! _Okay!_" Kazuma rubbed his ear and went over to sit on the veranda. "What?"

"Kazuma, we—the rest of the family and I—have noticed that you've been acting… not like yourself lately."

"Save it, Mom. I already know what you're going to say. I've had enough lectures over these few weeks." Kazuma rubbed his neck, tired and exasperated. He was surprised his mom hadn't confronted him earlier. She was usually on point about these sorts of things. Then again, ever since school started, his mother had become less nosy. Maybe that was just what he needed. "Mom, have you ever done something… and you were afraid of what everyone would think afterward?"

"Well, that all depends. What would I have done?"

"Something… bad."

"How bad?"

"No one would expect you to do it."

Kiyomi thought carefully for a moment. "Well… if I did something like that, I'd come clean before it got out of hand."

"But what if you're able to handle the situation yourself?"

"Well then I guess it'd be okay for me to lie to everyone I love and care about, knowing how forgiving they are and how they just want to help me even though I can be stubborn on occasion."

Kazuma scratched his nose sheepishly. "Yeah… thanks, Mom."

Kiyomi smiled and kissed her son's cheek. "Glad to help. Now get to bed, sweetheart. You have all weekend to practice your Kung fu."

After she left, Kazuma stayed on the veranda for a few minutes to mull over what she told him. All this time he thought by doing this himself, he'd be able to solve the OZ situation with the Suits. But he didn't feel like he did anything at all. He was just avoiding the problem—avoiding his friends, his family, and Yuri. Maybe he still didn't have the guts to tell everyone what he did, but the least he could do was shape up and confront his issues face on.

It was about time he made his resignation official.

**O.O**

As soon as King Kazma logged onto OZ, he made his presence evident so the Suits would show up as soon as possible. "I'm here, you penguin-suited bastards! I know you're watching me!"

The Suits immediately appeared on the screen. "You called?" said Bosu.

"First off, I want my original clothes back!"

"You don't want these new upgrades?"

"I never said that," he quickly corrected them. "I just want my original threads back. The red vest, my high tops—but you can leave the hair out."

Bosu looked at his associates. "Very well," he said. In a flash, Kazma was back to his original attire without the blonde hair. "I was going to take them back anyway since you had failed to do your job. LM2 is still in _Konton_ and you haven't been on OZ for quite some time. You've been avoiding us, haven't you?"

Kazma went straight to the point. "I can't work for you guys anymore. I don't care what you do to me. I'm not helping you destroy OZ from the inside out. And as long as LM2 is stuck in the game, the black ops will eventually catch him, which means they'll eventually catch you."

The Suits looked at each other. Kazma almost felt the urge to smirk at his own cleverness. These penguin-suited bastards were going to pay for everything they'd done to him.

However, the Suits didn't look too worried about his threat (he couldn't tell what they were thinking a majority of the time because they had no faces). Bosu just flew up to him with his impassive mask. Kazuma assumed he was glaring at him. "A promise is a promise, King Kazma," he said. "And I promised you would regret becoming insubordinate to us."

"And I promise, if I ever find out who you psychos are, I will kick your sorry…" Before Kazma could finish his threat, the Suits disappeared. He scoffed. "Good riddance, cowards." He didn't look back as he flew off back to his Home.

* * *

"Sir, we've done roll call on everyone in every department. No one's been sabotaging the OZ site."

Kenta Takeuchi nodded. "I see… It's still not enough. Thank you for your help, Hatoshi. Your black ops team is doing an excellent job. I didn't count on those OZ-ecutives to be there. I'm sorry if it was an inconvenience for you guys."

"It was no trouble. They were only trying to help. The AI is the only real problem."

"So it's true. Love Machine is back?"

"Yes, but in this case, he's known as Love Machine 2.0 or LM2. He's obviously had some upgrades. His abilities are more lethal than before."

"What do you mean?"

"He can change his form to look like any OZ avatar and adapt their artillery."

Kenta cursed. "Does he have any weaknesses we're aware of?"

"Not as far as we can tell. But when he transformed into one of our black ops agents, he had a symbol on his forehead. It looked something like this." Hatoshi handed him a picture of the symbol.

Kenta stared at the peculiar image. "Strange. Why would LM2 have the OZ symbol?" He suddenly had another idea. "Hatoshi, do another routine search throughout your squadron. We can't let the situation escalate further. Make sure you didn't miss any important details."

"What are you going to do, sir?"

"Anything it takes to stop this, even if it means shutting down OZ permanently."

As soon as they arrived at Kenta's office, Hatoshi was dismissed. Kenta went inside to retire, finding Kiko and Kei waiting for him. They both looked worried. "Did something happen while I was gone?"

Kiko stood slowly. "I apologize for eavesdropping, Kenta, but are you really planning to shut down OZ? This is your life's work. It would such a shame to disperse everything you had worked so hard for."

Kenta sighed. "I don't know. I hope it won't come to that, but if it does, I have to do whatever it takes to keep the people of OZ safe. As the creator, I have to take full responsibility of whatever happens." Kei whimpered and went over to join them. Kenta petted her head affectionately. "Kiko, I don't want to deal with any distractions, so I'm not taking any messages unless they have to do with the AI situation."

"Understood, sir. Which reminds me, Kazuma sent an urgent message to you yesterday."

"He did, did he?" Kenta went to his computer and pulled up the message. What he found was very astonishing. "Kiko, I think our little king has some trouble with the culprits." He stopped to read more. "He doesn't want me to tell Yuri." He stopped reading and frowned. "Perhaps he shouldn't have told me, either."

"Why?" Kiko noticed the irked expression on Kenta's face.

"Contact tech support for me, Kiko. I need Hatoshi on this floor, now!"

"Yes, sir!" Kiko ran out the room and did as she was told.

Kei, who went to hide under the desk, watched her master and Kiko. She sensed something was very wrong and sat helplessly wishing she could do something to assist her human companions. With her heightened canine senses, she knew that was just the beginning of the chaos.

* * *

Suddenly, telling those Suits off didn't feel so good anymore. Kazuma knew something would happen after he resigned, even though nothing had happened so far. Besides the OZ club members who were harassing him, school was fine, people had stopped pestering him about his problems, and, for the first time in two months, Kazuma was smiling. He never felt so relieved having those Suits off his backs. He hadn't been working for them for long, but it felt like he was released from a lifetime contract.

But he didn't let his guard down. He knew at any moment, those Suits would set their trap and eventually catch him off guard and do something to grind his gears. He watched his family, Yuri, even the other members of the OZ club, but nothing had happened to them, either. Everything was normal. Too normal…

The following Friday, things started to get unusual. First, as soon as he entered the classroom, he saw a man at Mrs. Kato's desk. He didn't think it was that unusual at first. Mrs. Kato was typically late to class every other day. But when class started, the man didn't leave. He stood in front of the class confidently and introduced himself. "Class, I am Mr. Hatoshi, and I will be subbing for your teacher Mrs. Kato today." Kazuma didn't know what to think of that. Mrs. Kato was like any normal human being; she got sick, she had family—there were tons of possibilities for her absence today. But as the lesson went on, he couldn't help noticing that this "Mr. Hatoshi" was watching him. As soon as he made eye contact, the substitute teacher would look back down at his book as if he hadn't been leering at him.

The second thing he noticed was that Tanya wasn't in class today. It was a small detail, something he normally wouldn't have noticed because he was busy either exchanging passive glances with Kenno, ignoring the lecture, or ignoring Tanya, but that was the thing. Right about now, she would've been throwing wads of paper at him with nasty notes due to his OZ club resignation, but her absence disrupted that mundane routine, and Kazuma was getting a little suspicious. He doubted anything serious happened; Tanya would show up eventually.

As he predicted, right about lunchtime, Tanya came up to him as he headed out the door. He stopped as soon as he saw her appearance. She looked like a mess. Her hair was in disarray, her clothes were disheveled, and she looked really pissed off. "What the hell happened to you?"

She dropped her backpack on the floor unceremoniously as she got something from the vending machine. "I got attacked," she said before opening her coffee and taking a big gulp. "By these stupid guys in suits…"

"Suits?"

"Yeah. They just came out of nowhere and attacked me! Look what those assholes did to me!" She finished the rest of the can before furiously throwing it away and stalking off to the classroom. "Unbelievable…!"

Kazuma watched her until she disappeared into the room. Attacked by guys in suits? What were the odds? He knew Tanya was fully capable of defending herself, but who in their right mind would attack her in broad daylight?

_No, it can't be._

He decided not to think about it. Whoever they were, they had to deal with Tanya, and he knew the result was anything but pretty.

However, throughout the rest of the school day, he felt like someone was watching him. He figured it was this "Mr. Hatoshi" guy, but every time he turned around, he wasn't able to catch him. He tried ignoring this unnerving feeling, but it only made him more anxious and his head began to pound. When school ended, he waited until Mr. Hatoshi left before running out to meet with Yuri. After walking Yuri to her job, Kazuma continued his journey home. And as he made his way home, he grew more vigilant. These ambiguous feelings he had during school continued to grow with each step he took. This time, he didn't doubt his instincts; he watched enough movies to know that your instincts were never wrong.

The moment he came upon the next alley, he turned and waited behind the fence. He saw a shadow approaching slowly, and the pounding that was in his head transferred to his heart. Once the silhouette was close enough, he jumped out and punched the stranger. It wasn't Mr. Hatoshi like he assumed. The guy was wearing a suit, just like the guys Tanya had described. This must've been the creep who followed him in school (he wondered if anybody else noticed this guy. It seemed like the school lacked teachers who actually cared about the activities that happened outside their classroom).

As soon as that guy was down, two others suddenly jumped on him and held him back. "These damn kids are stronger than we thought," one of them muttered. "Is this the Ikezawa kid?"

"Yeah, it's him. Make sure you hold him tight. Boss says he's the rowdiest. With him, it won't matter if we get the rest of 'em."

Kazuma growled. With a swift kick, he was able to get the guy on his right in the crotch. Once his arm was released, he slugged the other guy and ran as fast as he could. This couldn't have been a coincidence. These guys wanted him, and the fact that they only needed _him_ was proof enough: these were the Suits. But he wondered why they attacked Tanya if that was the case.

He sprinted home, not bothering to catch his breath even as he entered the estate. His mother was there to welcome him, as usual, but he ran right past her, quickly informing her that he'd be in his room. Once there, he dropped his stuff and went to his laptop. He needed to contact all the OZ club members, including Mrs. Kato. Wherever she was, he knew she would answer. But before he logged on, his hands stopped over the keyboard. What was he thinking? If he tried contacting them on OZ, the Suits could easily track his messages, and then they'd all be screwed (much more screwed then they were right now).

Instead, he called Yuri. She had offered him Tanya's number, and no doubt that she had given that Siberian tiger his, but he made it perfectly clear that he didn't want to get anymore involved with Tanya as he was. But desperate times called for desperate measures.

He waited impatiently as the dial tone beeped. When he heard someone pick up, he spoke first. "Do you have Tanya's number?"

"… _What?_"

Kazuma sighed, exasperated. "Her number. Do you have it?"

"_I heard you, but… is this Kazuma I'm talking to?_"

"Yuri, I don't have time for this!"

"_Alright. Calm down. I'll text it to you._"

"Thanks a lot."

"_Is everything okay?_"

"Yeah, yeah. I just need to talk to her about… our homework. It's an important assignment."

"_Oh… well, I'll see you at home._"

"Bye." He quickly hung up and waited for the text. As soon as the number showed up, he dialed as fast as he could. "Come on… Pick up!"

"_As patient as ever, Ikezawa._"

Kazuma had never felt so relieved to hear Tanya's voice. "I need to talk to you about the guys who attacked you. Have you called the others? Were they attacked?"

"_Yeah, I called them. Jiro and Junko are fine, and so is Chika._"

Of course. Jiro and Junko went to a different school, and Mrs. Kato was absent for the day. "Did they attack you again?"

"_No. I think they've learned not to mess with me. Why are you freaking out all of a sudden? Did they attack you, too?_"

"Yeah, and they almost had me, too."

"_What about Yuri-chan?_"

"She's still at work."

"_You mean you left her all by herself?_"

"Yuri doesn't get off of work till seven. And I'm pretty sure she can take care of herself. She knows kung fu."

"_Even if she can defend herself, I still don't think she should be by herself._"

Kazuma agreed, but he didn't want Yuri to think he didn't trust her anymore. After the first time he followed her to work, he was only allowed to walk her there. If he stayed, she promised she'd take out his other eye, and he wasn't going to risk that. "She'll be fine. Besides, she doesn't want anyone watching over her; she hates feeling dependent."

"_Yeah, I can see how that would upset her. Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Kazuma._"

"Thanks, Tanya. Call me if anything else happens."

"_Will do._"

After she hung up, Kazuma decided to wait for Yuri to come home. Unfortunately, Tanya's words got him. He couldn't help thinking about the same suits standing outside the bookstore where his girlfriend worked, waiting for the precise moment to strike and capture Yuri so they could bring her to their boss. But then he reminded himself that Yuri was strong. Yuri had years of experience in the martial arts. He doubted anyone else could handle her roundhouse kick as well as he could.

When seven o'clock came up, he decided to pass the time to do homework. It usually only took thirty minutes to get home from the bookstore. After finishing him math, he looked at the clock. It was 7:30. No problem. She wouldn't get home at the exact time.

7:45. Maybe her tire busted, he reasoned with himself. The back one was getting a little worn out, anyway.

7:58. Kazuma knocked down his clock, irritated by the digital numbers that mocked him as they shifted. He wasn't going to wait another second just to prove a point. He grabbed a jacket and headed out the manor in search of his girlfriend.

Everyone else was eating dinner right about now and no one bothered him to join them ever since this trouble started, so he was able to leave everyone oblivious. He jogged his way to the bookstore to find it closed. He ran around to the open stores they usually passed after the bookstore and asked the owners if they saw Yuri. They all said yes, which didn't help Kazuma at all. The last store was closed, but the owner was still inside. He knocked on the door desperately, but this time the owner didn't see Yuri pass by. Kazuma thanked him quickly before running back to the alley where he was jumped by those suits.

He and Yuri always passed this alley on their traditional route home. If she ran into those suits, she'd run in here to cut them off. And if he knew Yuri, then she would've already kicked their asses by now and would be on her way home right now with a few minor injuries.

However, that didn't seem like the case. The first thing he found when he got there was Yuri's backpack. There were many signs of a struggle. Her right strap was completely torn off. The ground was scuffed up. There was even a hole in one of the fences estimating around the size of an adult male's head. He followed the struggle until he saw something that made him want to put another hole in the fence: Yuri's cell phone. Someone had stepped on it.

Slowly, he picked up the phone and held it to his chest. In an act of blind fury, Kazuma slammed his healing fist into the wall, tears falling down his cheeks.

Yuri was gone.

And it was all his fault.


	9. Chapter 8

Yuri yawned and stretched her arms as she made her way home. The sky was getting dark and the moon was starting to show. She hated daylight savings time; it always screwed up her inner clock. The day seemed later than it appeared, and the night approached faster than before. She could still see her way home, but it wasn't safe enough to ride her bike. Her boss had offered to walk her home, but she humbly declined. The family still didn't know she had a job, with the exception of Kazuma, and she intended to keep it that way until the time was right, which all depended on how long she needed this job.

She checked her watch. 7:10. She'd be home in less than thirty minutes. Kazuma was always stressful around this time. She smiled at the thought of her boyfriend waiting patiently at for her to come home, like a loyal dog. She usually couldn't wait to get home to her irascible puppy-dog, but nowadays, Yuri was starting to feel like Kazuma was drifting away from her.

For the past two months, Kazuma had been acting like a total stranger. He stopped going on OZ, he mainly focused on homework rather than his kung fu, and that weird phone call earlier—since when did Kazuma need help with homework?—from _Tanya?_ Knowing how well those two got along, Tanya was the last person Kazuma would've called for _anything_. And surely, as his girlfriend, Yuri would've been able to help him, but he insisted on getting Tanya's number so he could call her instead. Everything he did nowadays was just totally out of character. She couldn't even remember the last time he kissed her.

It wasn't a feminine thing. She didn't have to worry about her appearance around Kazuma, no matter how tall she was, or how short her hair was, or even how small her chest was. She knew this new change in attitude had to do with the OZ situation. Ever since their failed mission, Kazuma had became more isolated than usual. He blamed himself, and she knew it. If only there was some way she could convince him to actually _talk_ to her…

Yuri stopped. She glanced over her shoulder, narrowing her eyes. Her ears didn't fool her; she knew someone was following her. She continued forward until she was at the alley and turned. She would usually pass that alleyway on her way home, but she needed to get these guys off her tail, whoever they were. However, her plan backfired when someone spontaneously jumped out and grabbed her arms. Instinctively, she flipped the man on his back and ran away. Two more men in suits came at her. The first one reached out to grab her, but instead he latched onto her backpack strap. She pulled back, ripping the strap, and her pack fell to the ground. Her phone fell out, and one of the goons stepped on it.

She growled. "Hey!" She kicked that guy into the fence. Now she was angry.

Taking these men down was too easy. There seemed to be many, but as she swung these men around, Yuri realized there was only three of them. The same three men that kept getting up and going at her even as she kept knocking them back down. What the hell was going on?

Yuri became too caught up in her thoughts that she left her side open, and one of the suits tackled her. Her head hit the ground harshly and black dots were swimming in her vision. "Finally," one of them said. "She's just as crazy as that Ikezawa boy."

_Kazuma?_

"Let's get her to the car before anyone sees," another one said.

She couldn't hear anything else as she was overcome by darkness.

* * *

The anger Kazuma felt continued to escalate as he stomped back home and he swore he felt steam coming out of his ears. Yuri was gone. Those _bastards_ took her! And he wasn't able to do a damn thing about it! How could he let this happen? How could he just leave his guard down like that? How was he just going to assume that the Suits weren't going to _do_ anything? He shouldn't have underestimated them. If he didn't, Yuri would be here…

"Damn it!" Kazuma had been hearing the same reprimands over and over ever since he found Yuri's stuff scattered at the crime scene. He couldn't deny these thoughts, though. All of this was his fault, after all. Maybe he should have told her what was going on. At least Yuri would've been prepared for what was to come instead of getting jumped out of nowhere. And his family—he could only imagine what his family had to say once he told them what happened to her.

Needless to say, they wouldn't be happy.

As Kazuma stared at her broken phone, he felt tears threatening to spill again. "… I can't tell them."

"Can't tell who what, exactly?" Kazuma stopped walking, having not realized that he was already in front of the manor. Natsuki was there standing with their old mutt, Hayate. The dog ran up to him enthusiastically, and Kazuma patted him on the head. "Where've you been, Kazuma? We've been waiting for you. You missed dinner, again."

"I'm not really hungry," he said as he tried to walk past her.

Natsuki stepped in front of him. "You can't hide anything from me, Kazuma."

"Stop acting like you know me, Natsuki," he spat bitterly. "We may be cousins, but that doesn't mean you know everything about me. We've only started talking to each other because your baby-faced boyfriend happens to be one of my friends. Now, do me a favor and stop butting into my life!"

Natsuki went tight-lipped. At first, he thought she was going to retort, but then she took a step closer. She didn't look mad at all. In fact, she looked concerned. "You've been crying."

"W-What?" Kazuma immediately wiped his sore eyes. "No I haven't—I-I mean I wasn't."

At this point, his family had began to come out of the house. His mother was one of the ones in the front, and Kazuma could still see the concern and confusion on her face. He kept his eyes on Natsuki so their conversation would remain between them. But when he looked into Natsuki's eyes, he realized she wasn't looking at him anymore. Her gaze was the backpack and the broken cell phone in his hands. "Where's Yuri?"

Kazuma looked down. He couldn't stand to look at anybody anymore. He heard someone approaching them. "We thought you went to pick her up from work," his mother said. His jaw clenched as stiffly as his fists. "She _was_ with you… wasn't she, Kazuma?"

His hands were practically sore from the tight grip on Yuri's belongings. How was he supposed to tell them?

"Kazuma, are you alright?"

He couldn't, but he had to…

"Why are you crying, Kazuma? Did something happen?"

He couldn't take it anymore. "Yuri's gone, okay!" He collapsed, but before his knees met the ground, Natsuki caught him. "It's my fault! Yuri's gone, and it's my fault! Is that what you want to hear?! Yuri's gone, and it's all because of me…" Kazuma broke down, sobbing into Natsuki's shirt and whimpering like a baby. He hated acting this way in front of his family. He had never felt so vulnerable, and Natsuki's embrace and his mother's tender touch only made him feel smaller.

"Perhaps we should continue this inside," his mother said. She and Natsuki helped him up, and his mother continued to support him as she nudged him into the house. All the while, Mariko commanded the rest of the Jinnouchi family to head back inside and clear out. There was no need to have all of them there when he told them the truth.

When he looked up, he found himself in the living room. His mother came over and dabbed his eyes. Usually he'd try to push her away, but he needed this comfort. His pride couldn't get any lower. "Are you okay now, Kazuma? Are you calm enough to speak?" He nodded slightly.

When Kiyomi moved over to sit next to him, Kazuma saw Mariko, Riichi, Tasuke, Shouta, his grandfather, and Natsuki and Kenji surrounding him. At least the whole family wasn't there, but that still didn't alleviate his fears. How was he going to tell his mom and his grandfather—his sensei, the man he looked up to his whole life—that he was the reason Yuri was who-knows-where?

"So, what happened to Yuri?"

Kazuma looked over at Natsuki and Kenji. They hadn't asked the question, and by the looks on their faces, they probably already figured out what was going on.

With a deep, shaky breath, Kazuma began to explain everything from the beginning. He told them about the hacker on OZ, who turned out to the be new and improved AI, Love Machine 2.0. He them about the stupid cheat book that was published by Hojo Corp. He told them about the OZ club and even about his secret job with the Suits who were behind LM2. And as the story went on, the expression on the faces of his relatives grew from sad to shocked and to a bunch of other poignant emotions. The one that really got him was the disappointment on his sensei's face. When he was finished, Kazuma waited for the upbraids and scolds that would increase his shame.

"I'm sorry," he said to break the ice. "I'm sorry I lied to you all. I thought I could fix things on my own and…' Remembering his conversation with his mother, Kazuma felt his pride diminish even lower. "Nothing I say now could ever make for what I did…" Kazuma felt the urge to cry again and quickly put a hand over his face so no one could see his tears and he could feel a little less humiliated.

Mariko was the first to speak. "Well, that certainly explains why you have been acting so strange. I'm sure we're all thinking the same thing, and I'm sure if Mother was alive… she'd be very disappointed in you."

"Are we really going to play the guilt trip!" Mansuke cried. "The kid's sorry enough!" He turned to his grandson. "Kazuma, if Mom was really here, she'd tell you get off your sorry ass and do something about it! You're going to make mistakes in life, but we just got to get up when life puts us down! We're Jinnouchis, for heaven's sake! Now we're going to find the bastards who took Yuri away, and we're going to make them pay for screwing with our family!"

"What a motivational speech," Riichi murmured sarcastically. "But he's right, Kazuma. Yuri's our family now. We'll do whatever it takes to protect you two, so you shouldn't be afraid to tell us anything, no matter how bad it is."

"And we'll do whatever it takes to get her back," Tasuke added.

Kazuma felt even more foolish. Neglecting to tell them about his issues was just one of the many stubborn ways he wanted to prove that he could take care of himself—total fail on his part. But his grandfather and the others were right. This wallowing crybaby wasn't Kazuma Ikezawa! He should've kicked his own ass! He made a mistake, but he needed to suck it up and think about Yuri. She was still missing, and he was going to do everything in his power to get her back. And once they found those Suits, he would beat the living hell out of them!

"You said these Hojo Corp. people are behind this?" Kenji suddenly asked. He had been awfully quiet throughout this whole ordeal. Kazuma wasn't quite sure what he was thinking.

"Yeah."

"Wait, if this organization is the one causing all the trouble, then shouldn't the police to do something about it?" Mariko asked.

"Don't look at me," said Shouta.

"No, it's not that simple," Riichi said. "It never is. If Kenta Takeuchi were to… try and sue them, for instance, then they'd need proof in order to issue a lawsuit or even so much as contact the police."

"And we already suggested kicking Hojo Corp. off of OZ," Kazuma informed, "but, apparently, they sponsor the site, and Kenta doesn't want to risk losing his company by kicking them off."

"If I could get into the mainframe," Kenji said, "then I could probably be able to locate them. We'll be able to find Yuri. But I'm going to need someone to distract these… Suits, as you call them. Once I hag into their location, they'll try to cut me off, and we don't want to repeat that incident. Love Machine 2.0 is still an AI, so they're not in complete control of him. We'll need to distract him as well."

For once, Kazuma was grateful he was friends with such a nerd.

"Do you think we'll need a supercomputer for this?" Natsuki asked.

"If we want to defeat Love Machine 2.0, then we'll probably need a King Kazma _3.0_," Kenji affirmed. "And once we find Yuri, I can get her pass code and upgrade her avatar as well."

"I'm your man," Tasuke said.

Kazuma noticed he didn't say _if_ they found Yuri; he said _when_. Kenji had complete confidence in this plan, and Kazuma didn't doubt him. Jinnouchis would triumph in the end, like they always did.

"I'll contact Wabisuke and Sakumo to help, but I'm not sure it'll be enough."

"Then it's up to the rest of us." Kazuma caught Natsuki's grin. "Contact your OZ club friends. We'll need all the help we can get."

Kazuma nodded. He was sure that, with the help of his friends and the whole Jinnouchi clan, they'd be able to get Yuri back. He only wished he knew where she was, and, most importantly, if she was alright.

* * *

When Yuri woke up, it was still dark. At first, she thought everything that had happened in the alley was just a dream. A really, really stupid dream. But when she sat up, her head bumped against a wall. Oh, at least it felt like a wall. Whatever she hit echoed a bit, and it sounded hollow. "Where…?"

"So, it's really her?" a voice said.

Yuri looked around to find the voice when she spotted a cleft of light coming from the wall. As she tried to get up, she felt herself overcome with vertigo and slumped back against the wall. Her hand went to her head and she felt something sticky. She couldn't tell what it was, but a metallic scent wafted into her nose.

"Yeah, it's her," another voice said. "The last heir to the Takeda clan, Yuri Takane. Akira wanted to make sure that Takeuchi would pay."

_Akira?_

That name sounded familiar. She remembered a man by the name Akira, but he just one of the social workers who tried to take her away. Or was he a real estate agent? She couldn't really remember; her memory was fuzzy, and she knew the brunt her head had suffered from hitting the concrete had something to do with it. She needed a doctor. Didn't these people even realize she was injured?

"So how long do we have to keep her here?"

"Until Takeuchi finally came to terms."

_Kenta?_

"Apparently, this girl is brutal."

"Really?"

"Yeah. She beat the shit out of Shiro and them before they finally knocked her out of submission. I heard her avatar's much worse. Even beat King Kazma."

"What? For real?"

Yuri rolled her eyes. How old were these guys? They were gossiping like a bunch of school girls, and she _was_ one.

"Plus her avatar has a scythe, so you know she's deadly."

"I heard she also has a bow and arrows."

"And she's the commissioner."

"Of what?"

"The OZ security team."

"They put a bunch of teenagers in charge of that security system? How desperate can people get?"

_Look who's talking_, Yuri thought bitterly, _kidnapping a teenage girl in the middle of the night just to blackmail the CEO of OZ. Who does that?_

Apparently this Akira guy. Or, at least, he hired people to do it for him.

She _knew_ him. She just couldn't figure out from where or even why. Before she came to live with the Jinnouchis, Yuri had always been chased by social workers who wanted to take her away ever since her parents died. Takashi was her guardian, but he was usually out of town most of the time because of his law firm, which gave those creeps the perfect opportunity to try and catch her while she was alone. Takashi always made it home in time before they could, until that one instance when she stayed over at the Jinnouchi manor for the night.

But were those guys really social workers? Now that she thought about it, she didn't know the name of their organization. But if they weren't social workers, why exactly did they want her?

"You think she's awake now?"

"Want to risk finding out?"

"I doubt she's dangerous, considering she's been out for about five hours."

_Five hours?!_

"Yeah, but did you hear what she did to Shiro? Sent his head right through the fence."

"Damn… You want to go in first?"

"Who said we were going in? She might not even be awake. She hit her head pretty hard on the concrete when they were trying to subdue her."

"You mean we've been standing guard in front of a room holding an injured girl who may have a concussion or might even be dead?"

Yuri rolled her eyes again. She doubted she had a concussion. Other than her lightheadedness, she was completely fine. She could think clearly, clear enough to know that these two were complete morons. Getting past those two she knew would be a breeze, but getting that door open would certainly be a challenge. If she could overcome this terrible tremor in her head, then maybe she could think of some kind of plan…

"Hey, what are you doing?" Yuri's head popped up curiously. "Only personnel are allowed in this area."

"I'm sorry. I'm a bit lost," said the new voice. She didn't recognize this person.

"Well, you're going to have to leave," the other guard said.

All of a sudden, Yuri heard the cracking sounds of fists meeting unfortunate faces. Yuri couldn't do anything but sit there and listen to the brawl outside. And as the fight went on, she began slipping in and out of consciousness. Maybe she did have a concussion.

After a while, it became quiet outside. But then the door opened up, and the light hit her hard. Unfortunately, she was losing consciousness fast and she couldn't tell who was coming through the door.

"Don't worry, Yuri. I'm here to help you. I'll have you out of here…"

Yuri wasn't able to hear the rest as the darkness enveloped her once again.

* * *

**_R&R!_**


	10. Chapter 9

The next day, Kazuma waited for the OZ club members at the front entrance. He had spent all of last night contacting them, telling them about the situation at hand and his family's plan. Tanya and the Yamaguchi twins immediately responded and confirmed that they would come over and help them find Yuri. Mrs. Kato, or Chika, hadn't responded at all.

While he was waiting for them to show up, the rest of the Jinnouchis were preparing to face off Love Machine 2.0. The geek squad—Kenji, Tasuke, Riichi, Sakumo, and Wabisuke—would be going into the mainframe so they could locate the Suits, while the sentries—Kazuma, Natsuki, and the OZ club—would go after LM2. The Suits might've been the eyes, but LM2 was the brains behind this whole operation. It was only a matter of time before they lost control of the AI and he would eventually try to take over OZ again.

_There's no way in hell I'm going to let that happen again_, Kazuma thought angrily.

The rest of the family was trying to find ways to be useful in this endeavor, so the woman began making snacks and preparing drinks so everybody would stay energized. The little kids and Hayate, however, stood on the sidelines and watched curiously as everyone ran about getting ready for this mission.

Out in the distance, Kazuma saw the first arrival. Tanya was running up to the manor with her laptop tucked safely in her pack, ready for action. "Second in command Luka reporting for duty!" she exclaimed with a salute.

"I'm glad you could make it, Tanya," Kazuma said wholeheartedly. "And I'm sorry I didn't tell you about… you know."

Tanya smiled at him. "No problem. You mess with one member of the OZ club, you mess with all of us. Besides, you and Yuri-chan are my friends. I know you aren't really fond of me, but you can always count on me whenever you need me."

Kazuma smirked. He didn't think he would ever consider Tanya a friend, but she was willing to forgive him for his stupidity faster than his family did, not to mention she didn't seem very mad about what he did. She might've been annoying at times, but damn if she wasn't reliable. "Thanks. Any word from the others?"

"The twins will be here any minute, but I haven't heard from Chika at all."

"I figured as much…" Kazuma knew something was up. If he couldn't contact Mrs. Kato, he doubted the others would have better luck. "My uncle Tasuke is setting up inside so all the PC and console systems are connected. Go inside and get ready."

"Roger that!" Tanya gave him another salute. "Oh, and one more thing." Without warning, she punched him in the gut. The pain didn't compare to Yuri's infamous roundhouse kick to the eye, but she got her point across.

A few minutes later, the Yamaguchi twins had arrived. He exchanged a knowledgeable glance with Junko while he exchanged a glare with Jiro. They all went inside, where Tasuke and the others were preparing. The geek squad had to share one station while each sentry had their own. Mansuke and Shouta were helping Tasuke set up the supercomputer and get blocks of ice to surround the engine to keep it chilled.

"You think this'll be enough?" Kazuma asked Kenji. "They were able to control King Kazma once, and if they find out what we're trying to do—"

"Don't worry. Once we hack into the Suits' covert database, we can block them, so you'll have full control over King Kazma. Riichi's antennae module will make it easier to locate the heart of the Suits' operation and alert us whenever one of them comes near our firewall."

"Good." Kenji seemed as determined as ever to make sure this was successful. Not that he was complaining, but Kazuma found this a little unusual. But then he remembered something important. "Kenji… I'm sorry that this is taking time away from celebrating your birthday."

The older boy stopped typing and look up at him with a smile. "It's okay, really. I don't really celebrate my birthday with my parents since they're always so busy. I'm just glad I can spend it surrounded by people who care about me. It doesn't really matter what we're doing." Kenji put a gentle hand on Kazuma's shoulder. "Ever since we met, I've always considered the Jinnouchis my family, and Yuri's a part of this family, too. I want to do whatever I can to help her get her back."

Kazuma wasn't much for sentimental gestures, so he just patted Kazuma on the back, which the older, less nimble boy, didn't take so well. "Thanks, Kenji. I owe you."

"Alright, you two, enough with the love fest," Natsuki said. "I think the rest of us are ready. You should get to your station, Kazuma." Kazuma nodded and went to get ready.

Kazuma's station, which was in the center of this whole operation, had everything he needed: his laptop, a six pack of cola, four bags of chips, a water bottle, and his cell phone, in case Yuri was able to call him, which now that he thought about it probably wasn't a good idea. If he was going to find Yuri, he couldn't get by on false hope, a single chance that Yuri would probably be able to escape the clutches of the Suits on her own. If that were true, then she probably wouldn't have been caught by them in the first place. He had to remind himself that was the reason why he called the OZ club members to come and help his family. And that was also why he kept Yuri's broken phone next to his, as an extra reminder that his calls would be unanswered.

Speaking of unanswered calls, Kazuma was yet to receive a reply from the CEO of OZ. Kenta hadn't been active in the OZ community for a long time, so Kazuma figured he was busy trying to solve the crisis in OZ. But he did expected some sort of reply after he told Kenta about Yuri, the only family he had left, being kidnapped by the same guys who were corrupting his business. Kazuma wanted to be mad at him, but there wasn't anything he could do; it wasn't his problem anymore. Right now, his only focus was getting Yuri back.

"Alright," he said. "Let's do this!"

"Wait!" Tanya suddenly cried. Everybody turned to her. "There's one more we have to wait for."

"One more?" Kazuma echoed. "Who…?"

His question was answered when a new face suddenly showed up on the veranda. Recognizing the dark eyes of his quiet friend, Kazuma gave an acknowledgeable nod. Everybody else just stared at him inquisitively.

"This is Kenno Minami. I called him and told him everything," Tanya explained. "When you called the rest of us, I decided to invite him. I thought he'd make a great asset to our team."

"Great," Natsuki said. "The more the merrier."

Kenno nodded and went over to a clear area next to Kazuma to set up. By the time he was ready, everybody logged in. It was now, or never.

_Hold on, Yuri._

**O.O**

"The Suits created this new arcade game called _Konton_, which they used as the foundation to create LM2. Now he just goes destroying the players who are _itto_ or even try to get near the key, and eliminating their accounts permanently from the system."

The yellow squirrel next to the white rabbit nodded as he jotted this down. "Got it."

After King Kazma informed Kenji about everything he knew about LM2 and got him caught up on the events that happened when they tried to infiltrate the game, Kenji went to join the rest of the geek squad and Kazuma the OZ club. Luka, Vinnie, Giuseppe, Natsuki's avatar, and someone new. The avatar was as tall as King Kazma, except he was wearing all black, had two holsters on his hips, two swords on his back, and the black bandana and cowboy hat covering his face, with the exception of his white eyes.

"Hey, who's this punk?" Vinnie said.

"It's Kenno, idiot," Luka said.

"He's our fellow companion, The Unknown," Giuseppe explained.

Vinnie sweat-dropped. "Right, I knew that."

Kazuma smirked. "I should've known. You look boss, man." The Unknown nodded at him.

"So, when do you think they'll be done?" Luka asked.

"Just a moment," Natsuki answered. She was still wearing her Kami-goddess kimono with the peacock feathers that John and Yoko, the Guardians of OZ, gave her in order to defeat the original Love Machine. "We can't rush this. Once Kenji and the others are done doing what they need to do, we go in. Everybody remembers the plan, right?" Everyone nodded, except for Vinnie, who was playing with his guns.

A few minutes later, a message from Kenji popped up over all over them:

_**The firewall is up.**_

"Alright," Kazma said. "Let's move."

All of them went inside the arcade. As they made their way to the _Konton_ game, Kazuma couldn't help noticing how empty is was. There were no black ops around to try and stop them. What was going on?

"Something happened," Luka said, reading his thoughts.

"Yeah, but what?"

"Guys," Natsuki said. "Look at this."

The others caught up to Natsuki, who was already in front of the entrance to the game. Kazma was shocked to see there was damage on the door. The light of the door flickered due to its impairment, and cracks were forming. "LM2 is trying to break out," Kazuma said aloud. "They've already lost control of him."

"Is it wise to go in there now?" Giuseppe asked. "Suppose he's been waiting for us on the other side of the door. If we were to open it…"

"We knew the risks when we decided to get together and do this," Natsuki said. "This is for Yuri. It's now or never. Just stick to the plan and everything will be fine." Kazma nodded. He wasn't sure how successful this plan was going to be, but he knew Natsuki was right. They couldn't back down now.

The plan started out simple. Each OZ sentry entered one-by-one, Kazma being the last. Everybody else was spread out in _Konton_, looking for the key. Once someone found it, they'd inform the others before going into pursuit. LM2 could be anywhere, or anyone, in the vicinity, and thanks to the AI, they weren't able to use their designated maps, so they wouldn't be able to sense him at a five meter radius.

Kazma wasn't surprised that he was the first to spot the key. If he was lucky, LM2 would also pop up. "I found the key," Kazma told everyone. "And _he_ hasn't shown up yet."

_Where are you?_ The message came from Luka.

"The heart of the game."

_Backup's on its way_. This one came from Natsuki.

"Roger that."

Kazma leaned against a decrepit building and waited for someone to show up, which was grueling. He didn't want to just stand around while the key was just floating _right in front of him_. Grabbing it was just so tempting, but it was also dangerous. He knew he had to wait for someone to back him up, otherwise LM2 would catch him off guard.

After a while, the white rabbit was fed up. He couldn't wait for the others for much longer. But then he noticed someone on the other side. By their dark clothes, Kazma knew it was The Unknown, so he went for the key.

_Kazma, where are you?_ Luka called him again.

_I'm getting the key._

_Who's with you?_

_The Unknown._

… _The Unknown's with me._

Just as he was about to reach for the key, Kazma spotted Luka. To the tiger was The Unknown. "Oh shi—"

The fake Unknown punched him before he could get his hands on the key. Wiping his bloody muzzle, Kazma glared over at him, recognizing the symbol on the bandana before the imposter transformed back into LM2. Scolding his naïveté, Kazma looked back at the key before taking a quick glance at his comrades, who were already armed and ready to ambush the AI. He might've stupidly blown his cover, but that didn't mean he'd reveal his friends.

Vinnie, being useful for once, pulled out his Uzis and mercilessly shot at the AI, drawing his attention away from the key. When the time was right, Kazma took the key and jetted out. But before he could completely disappear from the scene, LM2 came back, kicking him in the back, and Kazma hurled into the nearest building.

Instead of retaliating, Kazma just smirked. "You want it, big guy?" he taunted. "Let's do this!"

The chase was on. Love Machine 2.0 might've been stronger and more dexterous, but when it came to games, Kazma knew he was no different from the original. Like he assumed, this AI loved games, and he was going to do everything in his power to keep the key away from everyone. Now that King Kazma had it, he'd have to use all means in order to get it back. But even though the timer was destroyed, Kazma and his comrades still had limited time to try and find a weak point to take him down.

Five minutes within their chase, LM2 was actually beating his ass before Kazma could pass the key to someone else. After getting knocked into the fifth building, Kazma was exasperated. "Damn it!" It was taking more effort to get out of the wreckage each time. He didn't have time to try to get out this time. LM2 stood over him with a tight fist, ready to pound the white rabbit into the ground.

All of a sudden, the AI was thrown across the alley, demolishing the remains of a jaded edifice. Kazma looked at the destruction in in bewilderment. "What the…"

"What'd I say about keeping your problems to yourself, _King Kazma?_"

Looking back up from his position, King Kazma was completely speechless. "… Yuri?"

* * *

When Yuri woke up, she once again found herself in a dark place. Her head didn't hurt as much as it did before, and this time she was on something soft and cushiony. A couch, maybe?

"Yuri, are you awake?"

Sitting up from the couch, Yuri could vaguely make out someone on the other side of the room. "Who's asking?"

The silhouette moved over to the wall and turned up the dimmer switch to light up the room slightly. It took seconds for Yuri's eyes to get adjusted to the light, and she spotted a familiar woman with obsidian locks and a professional disposition. "Kiko?" She heard a bark and noticed the Shiba Inu was lying on the couch. "Kei? Where am I? How'd I get here?"

"You're in Kenta's office. We found the headquarters of Hojo Corp. and sent for someone to rescue you." The assistant went over to sit beside Yuri, who was still trying to process this information. "How's your head?"

Yuri's hand immediately went to her forehead, which was swathed in a dressing. Remembering everything that happened before she passed out, the young girl became hysterical. "Where's Kenta? I have to talk to him. Those guys in suits—"

"Calm down, Yuri. You'll see him in a bit." Kiko handed her a glass of water.

Yuri gulped it all down. "How'd you guys find me?" she asked breathlessly.

"We got a call from Kazuma about these Suits attacking him and your friend. Kenta had a feeling they were from Hojo Corp. Akira Hojo has been after Kenta's company and his fortune for years."

"Akira… That name sounds so familiar, but for some reason I haven't been able to figure out why."

Kiko took out a tablet and handed it to Yuri. She immediately recognized the face on the screen. She was right to assume this Akira guy was bad news. He had been one of the people to come by the Jinnouchi manor that day and tried to take her away—until Kazuma stepped in and slugged him.

In reality, Akira Hojo, owner of less successful Hojo Corporations, was actually part of the Tokugawa clan, one of the many adversaries of her family and Jinnouchi clan during the Takeda war. Due to an everlasting grudge, Akira had a vendetta against both the Jinnouchi clan and the Takeda clan, which was practically close to extinction. He had stolen the blueprints of the original Love Machine and made the new and improved Love Machine 2.0, making him more powerful and more disciplined than before. The base of this operation was _Konton_, where Akira and his associates were eventually able to keep the AI trapped and under their jurisdiction. Apparently, someone working inside Kenta's company put the game into the arcade without his knowledge.

_It's like a criminal record_, Yuri thought as she stared at the screen.

But corrupting OZ obviously wasn't enough to break Kenta. "Akira was going to use me for ransom," Yuri realized. Kiko nodded affirmatively. "So this man is so desperate to run Kenta's business into the ground that he'd kidnap his only family? This guy is sick!" Then another thought came to mind. "Wait, Kazuma knew about these guys the whole time?" The brunette nodded again, this time more reluctantly. Yuri stood up angrily before slumping back down on the couch. Her vertigo had returned.

"Calm down, Yuri," Kiko said. She took the tablet away from the hoary-haired girl before helping her into a more comfortable position on the couch. "You had to get stitches for your head injury. The painkillers we gave you are strong, so it'll take a while for their effects to subside. Until then you have to be still and remain calm."

Yuri took a steady breath and waited for an explanation. "It's true; Kazuma knew about Akira's plan this whole time, but he doesn't know Akira is behind it," Kiko quickly added. "Akira had paid someone off to help him with Love Machine 2.0 and make personalized avatars for Akira and his associates to trick Kazuma and hack into the system so they could control King Kazma. They threatened him to work for them and help the AI get out of the game so he could wreck havoc in OZ like his prototype. We eventually caught the guy who was paid off, but by that time they already got to you."

"So… they used me as a means to get to Kazuma, too." Yuri now understood why Kazuma had been acting so unusual these past few weeks. He wanted to keep the job a secret to protect her. And then he quit his job, which explained why he suddenly stopped going on OZ altogether and began focusing all his attention on schoolwork and training. All the stress must've affected his sensitive awareness. "He should've told me," Yuri pouted.

Kiko smiled at her sympathetically. "There are many ways to look at Kazuma's actions. You could stay mad at him all you want for neglecting to tell you about something that not only would affect your life but also his family's—but I'm warning you it won't make things between you and him any better. Or you could forgive him." Kiko took the girl's hand encouragingly. "You know he loves you, and everything he did he did to protect you, just like Kenta has done everything up to now to protect you both and the Jinnouchis."

Yuri had never really talked to Kiko before, but this woman had a way with words. Yes, she was furious with Kazuma for not telling her about this, but she understood why he did it. He had been scared; she knew nothing had ever made him so paranoid in his life. The last thing he would want was to lose her or his family. If she was in his shoes, she would've done the same thing.

"Thanks, Kiko," she said. She squeezed the young's woman's hand back.

"Anytime," Kiko replied.

Kei came up to them both, wanting to get in on the little love fest, and put her paw over theirs. They both laughed.

"How do you feel now?" Kiko asked.

Yuri slowly sat up from the couch. The lightheaded feeling she had moments ago was gone. "Much better."

"Good. I'm sure Kenta's waited long enough."

Kiko led Yuri out of the room with Kei trotting closely behind. Yuri couldn't help noticing how spacious the hallway was. She wondered how big this building was and why it was so grand. OZ was just a website. Then again, it sponsored many businesses alone, except for Hojo Corp., which served as a sponsor; there must've been more behind it than what the Internet had to offer.

The small group shortly found themselves in another dark corridor, and Yuri was getting agitated. So far, nothing good ever happened to her in the dark. But then neon lights shone through the walls and ceiling, which made her even more uncomfortable. Kei nudged her nose against Yuri's hand as if to pacify her, which calmed her down momentarily.

"Kiko," Yuri finally spoke up. "Where exactly are we?"

"You'll see." Kiko stopped in front of a door. Lights shone through the creaks. As soon as she opened the door, Yuri found herself in another world.

The massive room was filled with a chain-link of computers. The screens glowed many colors, hypnotizing Yuri until Kiko pulled her out of the trance and further into the room. They soon got to the main monitor, which was surrounded by three people, one of which was a familiar silver-haired man.

"Kenta," Kiko said. "Yuri is awake."

He glanced back once before looking at the screen. As soon as he saw Yuri, he immediately pulled her into a hug. "Yuri! Thank goodness you're okay!" He released her and looked over her injury. "You are okay, aren't you? No head trauma or—"

"I'm fine, Kenta," Yuri said, overwhelmed by this sudden brotherly gesture. He never felt so much like family until now. "What is this place?"

The CEO smiled proudly. "This is my base of operations, my black ops team. I'm sure Kiko has informed you about everything." His assistant nodded, and Kei barked to reaffirm it. "Well, we've found something very interesting. Take a look at the main monitor."

Yuri looked up at the giant screen. She immediately recognized the background of the _Konton_ game. In the middle of the area was a key. Something flew over it briefly, but Yuri was able to catch a quick glance of it. "That's Love Machine."

"2.0.," Kenta added. "He's been guarding the key so vigilantly as of late. See, in this game, the goal is to keep the key away from the opposing team, or the opposing player, depending on how you want to play the game. However, since the game was also designed with no rules, it gives Love Machine 2.0 the advantage. Akira and his minions had already lost control of him. He's completely untouchable. But then we discovered something." Kenta went over to the computer next to the main monitor. They were now outside the arcade. Six avatars were floating just outside the entrance.

Recognizing the white rabbit king, Yuri gasped. "What are they doing?"

"They're trying to delete Love Machine 2.0 from the system."

Yuri looked at Kenta's warily. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm not going to stop them, if that's what you mean." Yuri stared at him, stupefied. "I was able to read their conversation, and they're plan… it's ingenious. However, they can pull it off alone, at least not without a professional team of tech-heads."

"Count me in!" Yuri exclaimed. "They can't do this without me, either. The future of OZ, and the rest of the world, is up to them—to us. And I'm going to do whatever it takes to protect my family."

To her surprise, Kenta laughed. "That's the Takeda spirit! Let me introduce you to the team first." Kenta put his shoulder on the man sitting at the main monitor. He had ruffled brown hair, and his glasses reflected the images on the screen so Yuri couldn't see his eyes. "This is Hatoshi Kato, leader of my black ops team, and the man who found you. As you can see, he's busy at the moment watching over LM2. Once you enter the game, he and his black ops will be monitoring the outside." Kenta gestured towards the woman hovering over the man. "And this is his my wife—"

"Mrs. Kato?"

The busty, auburn woman smiled, recognizing the student. She went over to stand next to Kenta. "Hey, kiddo. Call me Chika."

"What you doing here?" Yuri asked.

"Kenta called me in to help. Since he gave me a job, I kinda owe him."

"She'll be leading you through everything," Kenta said.

"Follow me." The high school teacher her took her out of the room and handed her a box. "Put this on. The bathroom's to the right." Yuri went into the bathroom and opened the box. She found a black suit. It was similar to a leotard, except it felt thicker. She found a white vest and shorts underneath the suit. After she put everything on, she looked at herself in the mirror. She felt ridiculous, the vest only covering up her chest What exactly did Kenta have planned for her?

Once she left the bathroom, Chika lead her into another room. It wasn't as spacious as the room filled with computer monitors. One of the walls served as a screen. The other three walls and the floor had slick platelets, and the floor made a vamping sound with each step they took. There were four speakers at each corner of the room. "What is this room?"

"The suit you're wearing is similar to the CGI technology they use for movies and videogames so the characters come to life on screen. You'll be like a living, breathing Usagi." Yuri nodded in awe. It was amazing what technology could do nowadays. "The walls and the floor have sensors that will detect each of your movements, which will be displayed on the screen in front of you." Chika began strapping something onto Yuri's hands, arms and legs. Chika took her hands and began giving her instructions. "Use these buttons to go back and forth. These are similar to videogame controllers, so you'll adapt to them easily."

Yuri on the devices attached to her nervously. All of this was too new to her. What really made her wonder was how Kenta got a hold of this stuff. "I don't think I can do this."

"Don't worry. I know the arcades inside and out, every detail to the very last digit. I'll lead you into the game. The black ops will form a second firewall for you and your friends. Once we find them with LM2, you have to help them distract him. We have to keep him inside the game in order to analyze him so we can find his weakness." Chika patted her back in reassurance. "Just think of it as a giant videogame. You'll do fine, and I'll be backing you up all the way."

"… Okay… and thanks."

Chika smiled and ruffled her hair. "Not a problem. Oh, and when you see King Kazma, give him a kiss for me." She winked at the young girl before leaving. Yuri heard a humming sound before she heard the static voice of Chika gain. "_Can you hear me?_" She nodded. "_Good. We're all ready for you, Yuri. Just do your best, okay?_ _I'm about to turn it on. You'll feel a little buzzing under your feet for a moment…_"

In all honesty, this was the scariest moment in her life. The future of OZ was as stake, as well as the rest of the world. She couldn't mess this up. She needed to have faith in herself, just like everyone else did. She was sure if Kazuma was here, he'd be telling her the same, whispering sweet nothings, and making her feel stronger and larger than ever did before…

All of a sudden, the screen in front of her glowed and Yuri was pulled into a whole new world.

_Hold on, Kazuma._

**O.O**

Being Usagi never felt so real until now. Moving was a little difficult at first, but like Chika had told her, she got the hang of it.

"Cho?"

"Over here." The blindfolded pixie woman flew over to her. "You learn fast, kid. This is top of the line videogame paraphernalia. It's the equivalent of a supercomputer, which is probably what your friends are using. I'll lead you to the game. Once we get inside, I'll find your friends while you go after Kazma. Knowing him, he'll be LM2's favorite target. The black ops will be surrounding the area, in case LM2 breaks out. We don't want to draw a crowd." Usagi nodded and followed Cho into the arcade.

Once they were in front of the _Konton_ door, Usagi noted the cracks and the fading glow. Love Machine had already tried to bust out.

"This is it," Cho said. "Good luck."

"You, too."

As soon as they were inside, Cho and Usagi split up. The inside was more desolate, which made it seem emptier. Usagi didn't see anyone, and there was no indication that anyone was even in the game, until she saw a building collapse and a giant mushroom cloud form. "Oh no."

She flew over to the commotion. She recognized a familiar trio, but she had no time for any reunions. She knew they'd be able to detect her presence eventually, anyhow. Arriving at the building, she saw the rabbit king lying on a pile of rubble. She had never seen Kazma so damaged before. She didn't think it'd affect her this much, but when she saw the AI hovering over him ready to drive him into the ground, she lost it.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Like a bullet, Usagi flew out and, using her infamous roundhouse kick, sent Love Machine flying into another building. When she was calm, Usagi flew down to the astonished King Kazma. "What'd I say about keeping your problems to yourself, _King Kazma?_"

When he looked up at her, the expression on his face was priceless. "… Yuri?"

* * *

**This is the longest chapter of the story. I hope it's not too long (I'm so proud of myself!)**

_**R&R!**_


End file.
